The 4th Quell: Last Straw
by IceTigers
Summary: The Games have existed for 100 years, and the Gamemakers have created their worst arena yet, and a nasty twist. But rebellion is in the air again...
1. Chapter 1

Hello, wonderful people!

I've done two submit a tribute stories before- one I finished, one I did not. Why? Because life happens. And, reading back, quite frankly, it sucked. SO. I'm here to try again, now that my writing skills have improved, I have more time on my hands, I've learned from my mistakes, and I have a new, fabulous idea for the 4th Quarter Quell.

Actually, it's not exactly new. It's pretty much the same idea I had for the other story, but with some major tweaks. I can promise you, these will be the Hunger Games as you've never seen them before. I'm talking dragons, love, betrayal….and….well….MINI SPOILER, the Games have existed for 100 years. This is the final straw. President Snow is reaching the end of his days, and some people (or tributes) are both ready and willing to take advantage of that.

So, you wanna give me a chance? Then let the Games begin, and may the odds be EVER in your favor.

Submission Rules:

1. This story will NOT be first come first serve. I don't take Mary Sues, nice Careers (although I do take Careers who possibly have a change of heart), unrealistic eye colors, etc. Give them little quirks; maybe model them after your enemies or best friends. Please think about the nature of the Games when you design your tribute, and please make them as realistic and natural as you possibly can. If you could have their personalities make sense, that would be appreciated as well. I don't want any ruthless killers who have a soft spot for bunnies and whose hobby is handing out candy to children, if you know what I mean.

2. YOU MUST SUBMIT YOUR TRIBUTE VIA PRIVATE MESSAGE TO BE CONSIDERED. I need all my tributes in one place, or I can't sort through them. I will post all of the tributes' bios in a chapter once all spots are filled in case you wish to sort through them to search for a potential ally or love interest.

3. If you submit a Career tribute, they are volunteers.

4. I ask that if you would like to see your tribute in a romance or alliance, you settle it with the other person and then inform me. Every tribute will be in an alliance by the end of the story, regardless of who they are, but how the Games begin is up to you.

5. I'm only accepting 10 tributes, five of which I would like to be boys, and five of which I would like to be girls. We need some bloodbath people, and I know how much it sucks to see your tribute killed off in the first two seconds of the Games. Besides, if I'm controlling 24 people, I am going to go crazy…

PLEASE NOTE:

If you wish for your tribute to fly solo at the start of the Games, please keep in mind that you may not see too much of them for a while. This is because in order to keep myself sane, and to keep the story going, I have six tributes of my own who will serve as the narrators. I know this may be somewhat annoying, but as I mentioned above, I've learned from my mistakes, and having a short paragraph from every tribute every chapter is one of them. Trust me, you will like your tributes much better if I don't write their thoughts.

And did you know President Snow has a daughter? Yes, she's 17, has tiny baby blue ringlets piled on top of her head, and her name is Marjorie Snow. We will get to know Miss Marjorie very well, because she will be narrating the Reapings, the Tribute Parade, and the Interviews for us, as well as the occasional arena showdown.

Last but not least, there will not be only one victor. In fact, I'm not even sure if there will be a victor. In translation, not every tribute will die. Some will, yes, but not all of them. How will this be determined? Well, I, like any selfish and greedy author, crave reviews. Those of you who don't write will never understand the immense satisfaction of having someone tell you that they like your work, or that they took the time to tell you where you went wrong. Therefore, the few tributes that die will be the ones belonging to the people who submit a tribute and promptly drop off the face of the earth. I'm not saying you have to review every chapter- that's exhausting, but if I get the impression you're not actually reading the story, your tribute will be the one to go. However, even some of the best characters must die in order for the story to progress, so please don't take it personally if I'm forced to kill off your character. I don't like doing it- it makes me feel bad, but sometimes it is necessary. Like Prim's death, for example. Sad, but necessary.

I hope you'll join me! I can't promise I'll finish, but I can promise that I will try my hardest, and that if for some reason I can't, I will let you all know what happens in the end.

And we've finally reached the Tribute Skeleton! Happy Hunger Games, and as I said before, may the odds be EVER in your favor.

**Name:**

**District:**

**Age:**

**Gender:**

**Appearance (I like pictures, but if you don't have one, just write something up):**

**Personality:**

**Family/Friends/Background:**

**Unfortunate "Chosen One" or Volunteer:**

**If Volunteer, why?**

**Strengths (at least 2):**

**Weaknesses (at least 3):**

**Weapon of Choice:**

**District Token (optional):**

**Interview outfit idea (optional):**

**Interview quote (optional):**

_These questions will help me to better understand your character. They are all optional, but they really do help a lot._

**Would they be interested in an alliance?**

**Would they be interested in a relationship?**

**Do they plan on braving the bloodbath at the Cornucopia?**

**If another tribute hosted a small party before the Games, would they attend?**

**If there was a rebellion among the tributes, would they join? Why or why not?**

**Let's assume ghosts are real for a moment. Would your tribute be afraid of them?**

**Is your tribute good at navigating, or do they easily get lost?**

_Here's the current Tribute List. Tributes marked with an * are my narrators. Three careers and three non-careers, three girls and three boys. I will post their information along with the others when we have our tribute lineup, and please remember that I am only accepting 10, not including my own. The rest will be bloodbath tributes who will be randomly named and given little attention._

District One:

Male- Sasha Hoycota*

Female- Sparkle Tristan BY Maddy _(my sister)_

District Two:

Male- Noah James BY Phantasia515

Female- Anastasia Rein

District Three:

Male- Zephyr Bryant

Female- Paisley Braun BY x Simply Annie

District Four:

Male- Jax Lucas*

Female- Ariel Penn*

District Five:

Male- Conan Ledger

Female- Malia Blakely BY calamity11

District Six:

Male- Thomas Mcaw BY Et. SmallFoot

Female- Isabella Vay

District Seven:

Male- Keldon Peak BY shimmergirl109

Female- Tea Whythers BY XOXO-Shine

District Eight:

Male- Ryan Parrish*

Female- Carolyn Grisha

District Nine:

Male- Jonathan Knit

Female- Wysteria Marshon

District Ten:

Male- Wendel Hashby

Female- Shayna Rogers BY Trapped In Narnia

District Eleven:

Male- Tyler Wynters BY prim4ever

Female- Penny Quinn*

District Twelve:

Male- Dante Lupin BY Latina shewolf

Female- Jezza Time*

**Don't change the channel yet! This is a Quarter Quell, after all! Meet Marjorie Snow as she watches her dear father announce what horrors shall befall the tributes this year…**

_My brother Liam sits to my right, my mother on my left. I hold a tray of colorful pastries in my hand. Nibbling on the sweet delicacy slowly, I watch the wall. Any second now, it will flood with color. My father, the worshipped President Snow, will step up to the beautiful golden pedestal and read off the card for the Fourth Quarter Quell, the 1ooth annual Hunger Games. I'm more excited than I've ever been for the Games this year, but I maintain my dignity, sitting with my ankles crossed like a lady and fluffing my baby blue curls with the unoccupied hand. _

_But I am impatient. Every television set in Panem is tuned in today- it's a required viewing. And I'm ready for it to start. I want it to start. I want it to start NOW. _

_It read my mind, I know it did. The screen flashes on, revealing the gold pedestal. Behind it, the Capitol seal stands strong and beautiful, as always. My father steps elegantly onto the stage, a small boy behind him. The boy carries a small box made of dark cherry wood. He places the box on my father's pedestal and waits. My father nods his approval, and the boy leaves._

"_Greetings, citizens of Panem," my father's voice floods the speakers. "We are gathered here today to announce the Fourth Quarter Quell." I smile with admiration. My father is so professional, so poised. Even when that good for nothing District Twelve girl Katniss Everdeen stood him up, he kept a cool head. He destroyed her, and rightfully so. At the last Quarter Quell, as a matter of fact. _

_Father opens the cherry box and pulls out an embossed card. "In honor of the Fourth Quarter Quell," he reads, "as a reminder to the citizens of Panem of how helpless they would be without the unwavering strength of the Capitol, there will be no mentors or sponsors in this year's Games." I grin openly. No mentors mean no strategy. No sponsors mean that tributes will have to rely on their own resources for food and weapons. They truly will be helpless. But my father is not done. "In addition," he continues, "to remind the citizens that even their most loved friends and family must come second to the Capitol, each tribute's closest friend will enter a second, un-televised arena for a second Hunger Games."_

_Un-televised? Well, that's a bummer. But it will make the Games more dramatic, that's for sure. Tributes will be beside themselves in the arena weeping over their friends' deaths, and that'll make them easy targets. _

"_Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be EVER in your favor," my father recites. The screen fades to black, and I sit in silence with my family. _

_The Games are about to begin. _


	2. Tribute Bios

**Well, we have our tributes, and the Games will begin shortly. Here are all the tributes. My narrators are marked with a * and the bloodbath/not developed characters are underlined. The rest were created by you guys! Read or skim through and look for potential friendships, original alliances, and love interests for your tribute. Settle it with the creator, which can be found on the tribute list, and then tell me. (If you need to get to Maddy, just go through me.)**

**The 1st chapter of Reapings should be up soon!**

Name: Sasha Hoycota*

District: 1

Age: 18

Gender: Male

Appearance: Shaggy, unkempt dirty blond hair, dark green eyes, very muscular and average height.

Personality: Sasha is your typical career. He's rich, arrogant, and is positive that he's going to win the Games. He trained hard with the other hopefuls, but believes himself to be the best. He has no problem with killing at all, and could kill every person he saw if he thought it would help him win the Games. He doesn't believe in luck, and has never really been happy because of all his training. However, he's so attracted to the glory that awaits a victor that he's never once stopped to think about a strategy. He's tough and mean, but he's not smart or witty.

Family/Friends/Background: His family is very excited and supportive of his interest in the Games. His older brother Quartz was a victor in the 92nd Hunger Games, and personally trains Sasha. His mother is an interior designer for President Snow, and his father is a trainer at one of the training academies for the Games. He hasn't known much except his training and his riches.

Unfortunate "Chosen One" or Volunteer: Volunteeer

If Volunteer, why? Sasha is a volunteer because he wants to be a victor and receive the fame and glory that his life is not complete without.

Strengths (at least 2): Swordfighting, hand to hand combat

Weaknesses (at least 3): survival techniques, archery, intelligence

Weapon of Choice: Sword

District Token (optional): None. He's above that.

Interview outfit idea (optional): A metallic gold three-piece suit with a bow tie.

Interview quote (optional): The rest of those idiots better watch their backs. I don't plan on losing.

Would they be interested in an alliance? Yes, a Career alliance.

Would they be interested in a relationship? Nope.

Do they plan on braving the bloodbath at the Cornucopia? Yes, and he plans on having the most kills at the end of the day.

If another tribute hosted a small party before the Games, would they attend? Only if it would make him look stupid to not go.

If there was a rebellion among the tributes, would they join? Why or why not? Probably not, because if there's a rebellion, what happened to the glory promised to the victor?

Let's assume ghosts are real for a moment. Would your tribute be afraid of them? Secretly, yes. But he wouldn't show it.

Is your tribute good at navigating, or do they easily get lost? Sasha gets lost in wilderness very easily, because he refuses to pay attention to his surroundings, and is usually hunting someone.

**Name: Sparkle Tristan**

**District: 1**

**Age: 15**

**Gender: Female**

**Appearance: Wavy auburn hair, brown eyes, average height and thin.**

**Personality: she is arrogant and mean, but she didn't used to be. She is very brave, and not much scares her. the only thing that really scares her is snakes and spiders. she likes kids, and would never kill a 12 year old if there were any in the games. she doesn't mind though, if they were older than 12. She hates people who try to be the leader. She is very sneaky, and barely makes any noise when she walks. She really likes sparkles, and really wants her interview outfit to be very sparkly. she is very girly. She gets really frustrated when things don't go her way, and is very picky about the way things have to happen. She is determined to win.**

**Family/Friends/Background: Sparkle was born to be in the Hunger Games. Her brother Prism and her sister Glitter are both victors, and are constantly training her. Her parents have threatened to disown her if she doesn't volunteer by the time she's eighteen. She doesn't have many friends at school except for the people she trains with. Her only real friend is a girl named Jasmine who plans to volunteer when she's seventeen.**

**Chosen or Volunteer: Volunteer**

**If volunteer, why? She knew she'd have to at some point, and figured the best year to win would be a Quarter Quell.**

**Strengths: Throwing knives, running, hand to hand combat**

**Weaknesses: archery, hunting, charisma**

**Weapon of choice: knife**

**District Token:**

**Interview outfit idea:sparkly! in some way**

**Interview Quote:**

**Would they be interested in an alliance? Career pack**

**Would they be interested in a relationship? Sure.**

**Do they plan on braving the bloodbath at the Cornucopia? yes**

**If there was a rebellion among the tributes, would they join? Why or why not? yes, only because the only reason she ever wanted to be in the games was because her parents made her, and she thinks she has a better chance of living if there was a rebellion**

**If another tribute hosted a small party before the Games, would they attend? yes, she likes parties**

**Let's assume ghosts are real for a moment. Would your tribute be scared of them? not at first, because she doesn't believe in them, but then she would get really scared, and try to hide it, but not do a very good job at it.**

**Is your tribute good at navigating, or do they easily get lost?good at navigating**

_Name: Noah James_

_District: 2_

_Age: 17_

_Gender: Male_

_Appearance: Noah stands at 6'2" and has an athletic build due to his martial arts training. He has lean but muscular arms with six pack abs complimented with strong legs. In his spare time, he can be caught training to make himself stronger. He has a slight tan and if it wasn't for the constant frown could be classed as quite handsome. He has light brown hair that is either shaggy down or spiked up with gel. He hasn't had it cut in three years and it now falls to the base of his neck. Much like his father he usually has a stern look on his face when he's alone or when he is thinking to himself, even when he is thinking of something that makes him happy. This can be a bit intimidating for those who haven't met him before. His body language speaks in two ways. In one way he stands tall revealing his true height, and his back straight showing off his broad shoulders, looking like hi is confident and just a little intimidating. In another way, he slouches his body looking lazy or bored making himself look small and shorter than he really is. he tends to look out from underneath his hair when he does this, giving him a sort of mysterious look._

_Personality: Noah tends to keep himself to himself most of the time but tends to start arguments easily. He is seen as a very serious person with a very mean persona. He usually has a stern look on his face to make a person consider him untrustworthy or scary. He usually uses boxing or martial arts as a kind of anger management. he is actually and honest person despite his initial impressions. But that isn't exactly a good thing. He says what he honestly feels about a person if they ask him and most of the time it isn't really good. He doesn't care what people think of him and tends to block others out from the world. But despite all of this, Noah is a bit of a softy inside. If you stick by him long enough then he will open up a lot. He develops strong relationships with a few people if they are nice enough and he judges them to be nice. He appreciates help when it is given even if he doesn't say anything. He is very protective of those younger than him._

_Family/Friends/Background: Noah was born to Isaac James and Luna Brooks; the two were not married at the time. He began to help his father from a very young age and learned to never take anything for granted. When he was 10, his brother Gabriel was born. Gabriel was a very sickly boy and Noah took it upon himself to protect him from the other children who would tease and bully him. He developed a very protective nature from this moment on. The two are very close and Noah is always with him when he can be. Because of his brother getting bullied, he developed his stern persona. He began to judge people when he first met them._

_Chosen or Volunteered: Volunteer_

_If Volunteer, why? He knew that if he won, he would be able to afford all the medicine Gabriel needed, and would be able to protect him better._

_Strengths: very strong, relatively fast, gifted in camouflage, patient_

_Weaknesses: Very short temper, struggles to make friends, temperamental_

_Weapon of choice: Axe_

_District Token: A bracelet from his brother_

_Would they be interested in an alliance? Yes, Careers_

_Would they be interested in a relationship? Yes, if someone can get past that stern persona of his_

_Do they plan on braving the bloodbath at the Cornucopia? Yes_

_If another tribute hosted a small party before the Games, would they attend? Probably though a little reluctantly_

_If there was a rebellion among the tributes, would they join? Why or why not? Yes, he would do anything to go home to his brother_

_Let's assume ghosts are real for a moment. Would your tribute be afraid of them? No_

_Is your tribute good at navigating, or do they easily get lost? He's alright, not great though he would be too stubborn to ask for advice from anyone._

Anastasia Rein, 18, District 2

Zephyr Bryant, 16, District 3

Name: Paisley Braun

District: 3

Age: 15

Gender: Female

Appearance: Long, sandy blond hair. Pin straight and down to her elbows. Gray eyes, but blue in bright sunlight. Thin and pretty, oval-ish round shaped face. Around 5 foot 2 inches.

Personality: Snippy and stubborn, very irritable. She finds the smallest things annoying. Her temper can sometimes get her into trouble. But when you get to know her, and get under her skin, she shows you a side to her that isn't as plain as the stubbornness. She's a little timid around boys, surprisingly. She can be sensitive when she doesn't think about it. When she lets her guard down, she's not as irritable and is actually kind of sweet. You have to dig for the sweetness, but it's there.

Family/Friends/Background: Lots of friends at school, not many she actually likes though. A close friend, London Brantley, (female, 15). Her family consists of her older sister Sierra (18), and little sister Jocelyn (12). Her mother is Gabriella Braun and her father is Wesley Brawn.

Unfortunate "Chosen One" or Volunteer: Chosen one!

Strengths (at least 2): Running short distance (very fast,) excellent aim, fits into small spaces, doesn't trust too easily, overestimates people, and in shape.

Weaknesses (at least 3): Running long distances, not very good instincts, can't shoot an arrow to save her life, can't climb and can't swim.

Weapon of Choice: Darts, or spears.

District Token (optional): Her sisters give her an anklet with a heart on it, telling her to keep them in her heart.

Interview outfit idea (optional): something knee length and bright red

Interview quote (optional): "I'm not a bloodthirsty animal, but I am a contender in these Games. Killing may not be my forte, but I want to make it home." Something along those lines.

Would they be interested in an alliance? Yes

Would they be interested in a relationship? Yesss

Do they plan on braving the bloodbath at the Cornucopia? Not for long. She would probably grab something closest, maybe go for a backpack, and book it out of there.

If another tribute hosted a small party before the Games, would they attend? Depends on if she likes the tribute hosting it.

If there was a rebellion among the tributes, would they join? Why or why not? Yes, she thinks the Capitol is despicable and she's a good fighter.

Let's assume ghosts are real for a moment. Would your tribute be afraid of them? Yes.

Is your tribute good at navigating, or do they easily get lost? She gets lost pretty easily, can't go very far off a path before she begins to second guess her instincts.

**Name: Jax Lucas***

**District: 4**

**Age: 17**

**Gender: Male**

**Appearance: Average height and weight, with casually messed up copper hair and brown eyes. He's very tan from being in the sun all the time.**

**Personality: Jax is a cold blooded Career, but not necessarily because he's arrogant or loves he idea of the Games. He wants to prove himself more than anything. He's one of the most popular kids at the training academy and at school, but for some inexplicable reason he always feels overshadowed, and winning the Games is a way to make sure that never happens again. Jax is a seductive ladies' man and enjoys flirting with girls only to break their hearts. He knows he's handsome, and uses that to his advantage. He's slightly vain, but he does realize he's going to have some competition in the arena, and he's prepared. He tends not to filter his thoughts, and if he hated the Capitol he would've been an Avox before he turned 13. He voices his opinions without thinking about how they will affect others.**

**Family/Friends/Background: Jax has two little sisters, Naida and Nessa. They're 13 year-old twins. He loves them, although they annoy him to death. He has a bad relationship with his father because no matter what he does never seems to be good enough, and he hardly ever speaks to his mother. At school he has many admirers, but only one true friend named Oliver. Oliver trains with him in the academy, and they push each other to try their hardest.**

**Unfortunate "Chosen One" or Volunteer: Volunteer**

**If Volunteer, why? Jax wants to prove himself to his father, and he's not about to shy away from the chance to have Capitol girls falling at his feet. He was going to wait until next year, but Oliver pressured him to go this year.**

**Strengths: Hand to hand combat, spear throwing**

**Weaknesses: Tree climbing, knife throwing, stealth**

**Weapon of Choice: Spear**

**District Token: A seashell necklace that Naida and Nessa forced him to take.**

**Interview outfit idea: A suit covered in teal scales and a tie decorated with sparkly fish.**

**Interview Quote: You'd better watch out, girls. I'm coming back for you.**

**Would they be interested in an alliance? Yes, he plans on joining the Career pack.**

**Would they be interested in a relationship? He'll definitely pick a girl to flirt with constantly. Whether or not he actually falls for her depends entirely on the girl.**

**Do they plan on braving the bloodbath at the Cornucopia? You bet.**

**If another tribute hosted a small party before the Games, would they attend? Yup.**

**If there was a rebellion among the tributes, would they join? Why or why not? Maybe, depending on the people rebelling, why they're rebelling, and whatever his fellow Careers want to do.**

**Let's assume ghosts are real for a moment. Would your tribute be afraid of them? He wouldn't believe in ghosts if one slapped him in the face.**

**Is your tribute good at navigating, or do they easily get lost? He's good at navigating the sea. The land...only if there's landmarks.**

_Name: Ariel Penn*_

_District: 4_

_Age: 17_

_Gender: Female_

_Appearance: Average height, muscular build, long red hair side-parted and cut in choppy layers, dark blue eyes._

_Personality: Tough and sarcastic. Although she was named for the Little Mermaid in the old movie, she's nothing like that Ariel. She's witty and smart, and enjoys making others look stupid. She feels satisfied whenever someone suffers on her account, and revenge is her speciality. She has a smirk that never leaves her face, and is the "little girl" at school because of her brother. She's tired of her rep and wants to be known as something special. AKA a victor. She can play sweet and nice, but it's only a mask._

_Family/Friends/Background: Her older brother Finn babies her constantly, and her parents are always at work fishing. She's given Finn a black eye at least three times, so needless to say, their relationship isn't incredibly healthy. At school, she has a tight knit clique of two girls- Hanna and Lilly, who she trains with. Her boyfriend Zane dumps her as soon as she volunteers._

_Unfortunate "Chosen One" or Volunteer: Volunteer_

_If Volunteer, why? To lose her rep and take out her chronic anger on someone other than Finn, who's started fighting back._

_Strengths (at least 2): Charisma, intelligence_

_Weaknesses (at least 3): Hand to hand combat, archery_

_Weapon of Choice: Trident_

_District Token (optional): None_

_Interview outfit idea (optional): A mermaid-style gown with teal scales to match Jax's suit._

_Interview quote (optional): Zane, when I come back, you'd better watch yours._

_Would they be interested in an alliance? Career alliance._

_Would they be interested in a relationship? If she thought it would upset Zane, then yes._

_Do they plan on braving the bloodbath at the Cornucopia? Yeppers._

_If another tribute hosted a small party before the Games, would they attend? Probably._

_If there was a rebellion among the tributes, would they join? Why or why not? She would spend a really long time thinking about it, but in the end she probably would, if only to prove that she was independent._

_Let's assume ghosts are real for a moment. Would your tribute be afraid of them? YES._

_Is your tribute good at navigating, or do they easily get lost? She's pretty good, thanks to her observance and memory._

Conan Ledger, 12, District 5

Name: Malia Blakely

District: 5

Age: 15

Gender: Female

Appearance (I like pictures, but if you don't have one, just write something up): Has tan, olive skin and if you look close enough, a freckled face. She has short, dark brown curls that are often frizzy and tangled. Malia has average dark brown eyes. She often glares at people, even if she doesn't realize it. Her nails are filthy from being bitten, and her nose is long and straight.

Personality: Malia is blinded by her jealousy of others. She is often angry and believes everybody has it better than herself. However, she posseses a silent type of anger, one that she bottles up within herself. She absolutley loathes being left out of situations, and often builds up things in her head so that she thinks they are a lot worse than they actually are. Malia is actually very insecure about social status. She is one that loves having revenge on others, and now that she's in the Hunger Games, she finally thinks she can even the score for the horrible life she felt she had. She is so focused on her hatred that she hasn't even thought about dying yet. Malia is very morose, and is close to mentally breaking down.

Family/Friends/Background: Her two older sisters (Ashley and Fae), both of whom are older than 18, often overshadowed Malia in life. Malia soon took every little thing from her family very personally, and soon became very sensitive and defensive whenever they were around. She refuses to let her family get through to/comfort her, and believe them to be villains. She only has one close school friend, Maya. The two never tell secrets to each other, and usually have their guards up around each other. The pair are more alike then either could ever imagine. Most of the other kids the girls avoid, and both are usually secretly green with envy of the other's seemingly happy lives.

Unfortunate "Chosen One" or Volunteer: Reaped

Strengths (at least 2): Her anger often provides her big adrenaline rushes when fighting, she is very passionate when it comes to venting/revenge, she isn't one to easily give up when in rage

Weaknesses (at least 3): Is a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode of anger, she is easily blinded by jealousy and bitterness, she is untrained for the games, her actions usually have bad consequences

Weapon of Choice: Heavy ax/mace/sword that she can wildly swing around in fits of anger

District Token (optional): Her sister Fae gave her a pretty blue bracelet. On the train she purposely broke it after a moment of anger, and instantly regretted it almost to the point of crying (which she rarely does).

Interview outfit idea (optional): A simple, pretty white dress. She dislikes it.

Interview quote (optional): "I'm just SO happy to be here. Really!" With an obvious tone of bitterness shining right through.

Would they be interested in an alliance? Probably not.

Would they be interested in a relationship? That's a joke.

Do they plan on braving the bloodbath at the Cornucopia? Yes, Malia's not one for strategy

If another tribute hosted a small party before the Games, would they attend? She would be very angered if she found out that she wasn't invited, but would go anyways (but probably not talk or do much).

If there was a rebellion among the tributes, would they join? Why or why not? Probably not, Malia's got it in her head that the bloodshed of others is exactly what she need to finally let loose her bottled up hatred. Yes, I know, she'll probably be quick to die. She's a little insane, if you haven't noticed. I also don't think she wants to go back home, anyways.

Let's assume ghosts are real for a moment. Would your tribute be afraid of them? Yes. She'd think herself crazy, and then she'd REALLY go psycho.

Is your tribute good at navigating, or do they easily get lost? She goes with her instincts, not strategy or skill. So yes, she'd probably get easily lost.

**Name:Thomas Mcaw**

**District:6**

**Age:14**

**Gender: Male**

**Appearance (I like pictures, but if you don't have one, just write something up): Dark brown hair, that is cut short but is raggedy. Often gets sweaty and sticks to his face. Pale skin, that turns an ugly pale yellow when he sees blood. Light blue eyes that are often red and sore. Skinny with a wormy body and bony features.**

**Personality: Quite and secretive. Doesn't like show offs or Careers. Doesn't enjoy the Capitol and is a "down to earth" person.**

**Family/Friends/Background: A small group of out-cast friends back home (i.e. nerds). Lives with his mother and father. Spent all his life cleaning the dirt off trains (if u chose district 6) or (if you chose 9) collecting the bags of grain from the fields to go into the machines. Normal, dull life.**

**Unfortunate "Chosen One" or Volunteer: Reaped**

**If Volunteer, why? n/a**

**Strengths (at least 2):Cunning,can easily hide, survival techniques**

**Weaknesses (at least 3):Weak, not good with most weapons, slow runner**

**Weapon of Choice: bat/hammer**

**District Token (optional): n/a**

**Interview outfit idea (optional): Metalic green tuxedo and pants, light yellow suit shirt**

**Interview quote (optional): "Caesar, I know I'm not the strongest but I still might have a couple tricks up my sleeve, and I'm definitely not to be forgotten"**

**Would they be interested in an alliance? Maybe as long as it isn't with a Career, someone down to earth (like him)**

**Would they be interested in a relationship? No**

**Do they plan on braving the bloodbath at the Cornucopia? No, they plan on grabbing whatever then running away. But I don't mind if they get killed at the blood bath.**

**If another tribute hosted a small party before the Games, would they attend? Maybe, but would just stand in the corner and eat cake.**

**If there was a rebellion among the tributes, would they join? Why or why not? Yes because he dislikes the Capitol and how it treats his district. He also dislikes them because they are always trying to shrink the other districts and take their hard earned produce.**

**Let's assume ghosts are real for a moment. Would your tribute be afraid of them? Yes!**

**Is your tribute good at navigating, or do they easily get lost? Good at navigating. He is good with survival**

Isabella Vay, 13, District 6

_Name: Keldon Peak_

_District: 7_

_Age: 14_

_Gender: male_

_Appearance (I like pictures, but if you don't have one, just write something up): short dark brown hair, amber brown eyes, about five foot seven inches, tan skin._

_Personality: Keldon is an all-around fun guy who likes to make people laugh, though he knows when to be serious or not. He's always op for a prank. He is also very compassionate, and has a small temper. He is very patient._

_Family/Friends/Background:_

_family-_

_Dad- Aaron_

_Mom- Garla_

_Brother- Hayden (dead)_

_Sister- Caylah (10)_

_friends-_

_Ally Oranjestad, Quintin Suddrio, Kydone Wandfluh, Zuri Cajole, Timon Anthony, River Andrews, Shayliegh Dutchman, Cecil Reisman, Furgi Deism_

_Background: Keldon's brother Hayden was in the hunger games two years prior to these Games. He died in the top 6. That same year, Keldon was walking home from school and saw a girl getting beat up by a bunch of bullies. He stopped them and saved the girl._

_Unfortunate "Chosen One" or Volunteer: "chosen one"_

_Strengths (at least 2): is fast, strong, climbs quickly, fast thinker_

_Weaknesses (at least 3): isn't flexible, not stealth-like, trusts people_

_Weapon of Choice: club_

_District Token (optional):a carved wooden bear necklace_

_Would they be interested in an alliance? Yes_

_Would they be interested in a relationship? no_

_Do they plan on braving the bloodbath at the Cornucopia? No_

_If another tribute hosted a small party before the Games, would they attend? No._

_If there was a rebellion among the tributes, would they join? Why or why not? Yes, because he hares the Capitol for killing his brother._

_Let's assume ghosts are real for a moment. Would your tribute be afraid of them? No_

Name: Tea Whythers

District: 7

Age: 16

Gender: F

Appearance (I like pictures, but if you don't have one, just write something up): Picture the reality star Audrina Patridge, but less glamorous and made up of course. However, she could still be considered pretty.

Personality: Carefree, and naive. To say the least, she lives day to day and doesn't worry much about anything. Her head is a little bit up in the clouds. I wouldn't call her stupid, but maybe blindly optimistic.

Family/Friends/Background: Tons of friends. She is very sociable and personable. Her family is extremely poor but they are positive and just happy to have each other.

Unfortunate "Chosen One" or Volunteer: She was reaped

Strengths (at least 2): She is pretty useful with an axe in hand to hand combat. Because she is always so happy, people are usually inclined to help and protect her, which would help in terms of alliances.

Weaknesses (at least 3): She's not a fast learner, so any weapon other than an ax she could find difficult to use. Her optimism could also cause her to take blind leaps of faith. While she can run quickly, she can't run for very long.

Weapon of Choice: Ax

District Token (optional): A hair clip shaped like a ribbon. It was one of the few material things her family could afford to buy. She got it as a birthday present 3 years ago.

Interview outfit idea (optional): A yellow summer dress. About knee length, and a generous show of cleavage.

Interview quote (optional): "I just believe that I'll win. That's all." *huge smile*

Would they be interested in an alliance? Yes

Would they be interested in a relationship? I wouldn't say she is interested in one but if it happens, it happens.

Do they plan on braving the bloodbath at the Cornucopia? I'm not sure - you can write about it however you please but if I had to choose I'd say she wouldn't run into the centre of it .. probably just pick up a few things lying around the edges and run off

If another tribute hosted a small party before the Games, would they attend? Yes

If there was a rebellion among the tributes, would they join? Why or why not? No - she wouldn't understand what was going on.

Let's assume ghosts are real for a moment. Would your tribute be afraid of them? VERY

Is your tribute good at navigating, or do they easily get lost? She is horrible at directions. No sense of them at all.

**Name: Ryan Parrish***

**District: 8**

**Age: 15**

**Gender: Male**

**Appearance: Tall and gangly, with close cropped strawberry blond hair and green eyes.**

**Personality: Ryan has a very happy go lucky attitude, and can be very careless. He slacks off in school, and is known as the class clown. Sometimes he just doesn't know when to stop. He loves bad jokes and running, and absolutely hates any kind of work. He can easily brighten up anyone's day, but he often ends up annoying them to death with his never ending optimism.**

**Family/Friends/Background: He comes from a fairly energetic family, with four siblings- an older brother and sister, and two younger sisters. The entire family shares Ryan's optimism, and his parents often don't go to work to spend time with their kids. This isn't exactly a good idea, since a lot of times, they go to bed hungry, but their philosophy is that all you need is each other.**

**Unfortunate "Chosen One" or Volunteer: Chosen**

**If Volunteer, why? n/a**

**Strengths (at least 2): Charisma, running**

**Weaknesses (at least 3): Sword fighting, being realistic about a situation, hand to hand combat**

**Weapon of Choice: shamrock or evening star**

**District Token (optional): His dad's lucky socks, which have bumblebees on them.**

**Interview outfit idea (optional): Patchwork suit**

**Interview quote (optional): If Evangeline wasn't watching out for me, I don't know what I'd do. I mean, I kinda have to count on her for everything, 'cause I'm none to bright up 'dere. (For those of you who don't get it, Evangeline is the name of the evening star in the Disney Princess and the Frog movie)**

**Would they be interested in an alliance? Yes**

**Would they be interested in a relationship? Sure, why not?**

**Do they plan on braving the bloodbath at the Cornucopia? Yes, because he's fast**

**If another tribute hosted a small party before the Games, would they attend? Definitely.**

**If there was a rebellion among the tributes, would they join? Why or why not? Probably. He would thing it's the right thing to do, and trust a shamrock to get him out of it alive.**

**Let's assume ghosts are real for a moment. Would your tribute be afraid of them? Heck yeah.**

**Is your tribute good at navigating, or do they easily get lost? He doesn't care about getting lost, as long as he can still walk.**

Carolyn Grisha, 17, District 8

Jonathan Knit, 15, District 9

Wysteria Marshon, 12, District 9

Wendel Hashby, 13, District 10

_Full Name: Shayna Rogers_

_Age: 16_

_District: 10_

_Gender: F_

_Unfortunate "Chosen One"_

_Skills: She can tie just about any knot and knows all the advanced snares. She is well versed with plant and animal knowledge from being constantly outside. She can jog long distances from helping around the big rolling pastures and can lift pretty heavy weights (from mucking stalls and lifting hay). But she can clean and cook an animal really well once slaughtered._

_Weaknesses: She's never used a weapon before in her life, except a knife to clean the animals. So when it comes to combat, she's vulnerable. In hand-to-hand, in weapons, in long-range._

_History: She's a farm girl, raised in a barn, literally. From when she could toddle, she was on a horse's back, tying her first lasso at 6, roping at 9. As a family with her dad and 3 brothers, they work the farm, herding the cattle over long distances (they have rolling pastures), milking the cows and goats, collecting eggs, raising pigs, the whole deal. It's a job that takes them from dawn to dusk, when Shayna helps her mother cook while the boys help clean. It's a long hard days work, and that's why Shayna is home-schooled. She's always either working, learning, or out under the big Oak tree. She's tied yarn in a string and practices complicated string figures mindlessly, just thinking, dreaming of a different life. Her best friend's name is Dahlia and she's like the sister Shayna never had. She is a tiny girl with reddish brown hair in waves just passed her shoulders and swishy bangs and dark brown eyes. She's tan and thin and loves to laugh. The two are practically joined at the hip and basically live at each other's houses. Dahlia has a little sister named Raney, and Dahlia's family and Shayna's are long friends._

_Personality: Shayna never wanted the farm life. She's happy enough in the wide open pastures, but she longs for city life. Passion drives her for the fast life, the hustle and bustle of the city! The lights, the music, it's all dazzling! She'd give anything to escape the farm and find her way to the big city. She's super sweet to everyone, and has a hint of a country twang to her voice. She's a southern belle in that sense, yes ma'am, no sir, I sure do love this!_

_Appearance: Long thick curling strawberry blonde hair, light blue eyes, thick long eyelashes, an easy going smile, her eyes glitter when she gets excited_

_Interview Outfit: Lacy cream colored dress with matching heels_

_Interview Quote: "I'm so worried for Dahlia, but I'm so excited to be here, like, y'all don't even know!"_

_Alliance (Yes, or No): Yes_

_Relationship?: Possibly_

_Cornucopia: Grab rope and run_

_Attend a party: DEFINITELY!_

_Rebellion: I think she'd be so confused and unsure. She's always seen the Capitol as a beautiful thing and she's scared of what all is happening so fast. She'd be really shaky and unsure, might even bail on them but not likely since she's generally loyal (which is why she'd have to be pushed to join)_

_Afraid of ghosts: Probably not unless they were more like demons_

_Navigating: Oh yeah she's great at it. They have a lot of land you see._

_District Token: She's cut off a lock of Chase's mane and braided it into a thick woven bracelet she wears all the time._

_Other: Her horse's name is Chase and he's a palomino (golden coat and creamy mane and tail) quarter horse with a blaze on his forehead. She was there when he was born, and trained him completely on her own. She tells him everything, and he's the only one who listens to her gushes about the Capitol and her big city dreams. She says how if she could pick a new District, she'd love to be in District 1 and work as a famous fashion designer. She already has sketches but knows it'll never happen. She's stuck in 10._

Name: Tyler Wynters

District: 11

Age: 16

Gender: boy

Appearance: very short, and looks young for his age. has dark brown hair, and brown eyes

Personality: He is very nice, and very funny. He likes to joke around, which usually gets him in trouble. He is honest, and never lies. he is not persuasive at all. He hates the hunger games, and wishes more than anything he could somehow escape. For the games he wants to have a lot of allies, that he knows are trustworthy. He plans on making his own alliance group. he really likes all animals. He can be kind of stubborn at times.

Family/friends/background: Tyler is poor, and has 3 brothers (Tommy age 17, Chris age 5, and George age 13) and 2 sisters (Brie his twin, and Lillia age 10) His parents names are Sophie, and Henry and they are in their 40's. Everyone in his family is nice. His best friend is named Daniel. Tyler is from a very poor family so everyone in his family always takes a lot of tesserae. his name was entered 52 times. He had another sister named Crysti, but she got reaped when she was 12 and died in the hunger games.

unfortunate "chosen one" or volunteer: chosen

if volunteer, why?: n/a

Strengths (at least 2): fast runner, good at archery, very smart, strong

weaknesses (at least 3): he is bad with any other weapon than a bow and arrow, can't climb trees, hand to hand combat

weapon of choice: archery

District token (optional):

interview outfit idea (optional):

Interview quote (optional):

would they be interested in an alliance: yes

would they be interested in a relationship: sure

do they plan on braving the bloodbath at the cornucopia: yes, because he NEEDS a bow and arrow.

If another tribute hosted a small party before the games would they attend: yes

If there was a rebellion among the tributes, would they join? Why or why not?: yes because he hates the games.

Lets assume ghosts are real for a moment. Would your tribute be afraid of them? yes

is your tribute good at navigating, or do they easily get lost? He is good at navigating

**Name: Penny Quinn***

**District: 11**

**Age: 12**

**Gender: Female**

**Appearance: Just picture the 12-year-old actress Bailee Madison, only less glamorous.**

**Personality: Penny is a very sweet, seemingly innocent little girl. She's tried to play tough before, but nobody takes her seriously. She's an excellent liar, and can sneak around undetected to get information. She eavesdrops on Peacekeepers' conversations so that she knows what's going to happen and can warn her parents and friends in time. Penny is a very reliable and you can trust her to tell you the truth as long as you've already earned her trust. Although she's young, she's smart, and analyzes every action and situation. However, her family is her weakness, and if you promise that her family will be rewarded or helped in some way, she can be led easily into a trap. She has a very good control over her temper, but you don't want to be around if someone does try her patience.**

**Family/Friends/Background: Like most District 11 families, Penny's is very poor. Her parents never planned on having a child- it was an accident, but they love Penny anyways and try very hard to provide for her. Penny is an only child, but she has plenty of friends at school to keep her company. Her best friend, Tiffany, is an insecure girl who has a weakness for cute boys and beaded jewelry.**

**Unfortunate "Chosen One" or Volunteer: Chosen**

**If Volunteer, why? n/a**

**Strengths (at least 2): edible plants, climbing**

**Weaknesses (at least 3): hand to hand combat, sword fighting, weight lifting**

**Weapon of Choice: rock**

**District Token (optional): a beaded necklace from Tiffany**

**Interview outfit idea (optional): A green and purple sundress with shimmering leaves all over.**

**Interview quote (optional): I may not look it, but I'm strong. Not everything is always as it seems, is it Caesar? That's what my father taught me.**

**Would they be interested in an alliance? yes.**

**Would they be interested in a relationship? Probably not. She's 12.**

**Do they plan on braving the bloodbath at the Cornucopia? No, she plans on getting an ally to do that for her. She knows she won't live in there.**

**If another tribute hosted a small party before the Games, would they attend? yes.**

**If there was a rebellion among the tributes, would they join? Why or why not? She definitely would, because if the Capitol is overthrown, her parents would have food.**

**Let's assume ghosts are real for a moment. Would your tribute be afraid of them? Only if they wouldn't help her.**

**Is your tribute good at navigating, or do they easily get lost? She's very good at navigating through trees.**

_Name: Dante Lupin_

_Age: 17_

_Gender: Male_

_District: 12_

_Appearance: 6 feet tall, 170 lbs., chocolate brown eyes, raven black hair (kinda longish), very attractive_

_Personality: Dante is a rather cool guy that anyone would say that he is the alpha wolf in the pack. With his family he's a rather witty guy always making humorous remarks. Always watching over his family. He's not overbearing like his father but would always step in when when he needs to. However he doesn't exactly trust easily. He doesn't let it get in the way when one of his sisters might have a crush on a boy. He would watch over from a distance. He's also extremely aware of the suffering of others (those who would be suffering in silence, Dante notices). He has no self worth whatsoever. As attractive he may be, he's a rather silent guy that tries to not show much emotions. But he has a soft spot for young children that get bullied or abused. He would take them under his wing provide them words of comfort, gets them stronger physically and mentally. By doing this he basically is sort of the big brother to all and rather popular with the young children. He doesn't exactly fit in with the other guys his age with the exception of the fair few friends he made. Because his father abused his family so much, he vowed at a young age that would be stronger and never would let anyone push him around. He doesn't like to swear since it reminds him too much of how his father was like. He is a great guy to talk to, although his social skills for teens around his age lack. He's more use to chatting for hours with his sisters and mom. He does like poetry and knows many flowers and what they mean. He's a rather caring guy, especially when he he found out his mom's childhood friend Marcus Fray has been in love with his mom for so many years. He was about to sent a bouquet of flowers to Calla Lily, but panicked simply handed it to his godson Peter to hide it. What he didn't know that Dante's sister Eglantine Rose snitched it from Peter and made it look like it was sent anonymously._

_Family: His mom's name is Calla Lily and her maiden name was Cosmos. She's rather a delicate woman for a woman her age. She has wavy black hair reaching a bit past her shoulders. She has rather delicate pale skin with a soft tan. She was married at 20 and had Violet when she was 22. Currently at the age of 40, she doesn't look a day older then a woman in her mid 20's. However her body is slowly is failing her on the inside. She may not look sick while on the inside she's silently suffering. She doesn't work two jobs as before, but she's worried her only job as a Healer doesn't help much to meet ends if she's constantly not feeling well. Calla Lily is known for two things. Her knowledge of flowers and poetry. Hence why she named her only son after a poet and her daughters after flowers. She taught her children the language of flowers and some of her favorite poems as well. She also has a childhood friend she hadn't spoken to in 8 years Marcus Fray._

_His second sister name is Holly and she's 16 at the time of reaping. She's a tough girl that knows when to throw a punch when she needs to. Her name means defense and certainly knows how to defend her sisters and help her brother when there's trouble. However she has her moments where her temper takes over. For instance Lilac when she was 7 received a bouquet of wilted marigolds from a boy (Jake) she was secretly crushing on he was Holly's age (13). Now a bouquet of wilted flowers meant rejected love and marigolds meant pain and grief. Basically that boy meant that he rejected Lilac's love because she caused him pain and grief. The little girl was heartbroken and she was only 7 at the time. Holly only tossed the bouquet to the fire place and asked her mom where Dante was. Jake thought by hanging out with Dante it could make him popular. While he was trying to impress Dante with some vulgar joke, Holly hidden in a tree jumped off it, tackling him and proceeded to beating him up. No moments of hesitation, definitely no regrets. Dante is the only one that would dare approach her when she's at such a rage. She takes after her mom except she's more athletically built and more of a darker tan due to the work she's done outdoors and is envied by other girls her age. She watches Dante's back whenever there is trouble and protective of her younger sisters. She helps Dante on the field or the household. She secretly has a crush on Dante's friend but doesn't dare tell anyone or show any interest._

_His third sister is name Eglantine Rose and she's 14. She's a talkative cheerful girl who only wants to follow her mom's footsteps. She has a fair sturdy body structure and indeed takes after her mom. With the exception of more darker tan due to the work she's done outdoors. She has a bright personality that would be compared to the sun cheering up anyone down in the dumps. She knows the importance of her family's safety and places them above all priorities. She works hard studying all sorts of plants and often at times assists her mom with some patients or in the household. She wants to help heal people living up to her name._

_His youngest sister is Lilac and she's 12. She is the only girl that's inherited her mom's wavy hair and like Eglantine Rose and Holly she has a dark tan from the constant exposure of being outdoors. She's real innocent ans many people absolutely adore her for her innocent ways. Many think of her as a young child and they never want her hurt. However she's not oblivious or naïve about her life. She knows her father was an abusive man, she knows her mom is rather sick and she knows her family barely has enough to survive. She does everything she can to help her mom. For instance she might check on the patients, or give them water. She knows how to change the bandages of the wounded patients, and if all her other siblings are busy she would cook._

_His father was Jason Lupin and an abusive man. He had cold black eyes with dark brown hair. He was dark skinned and fairly muscular to inflict injury to anyone. But he was charming and charismatic to anyone who crossed his path unfortunately falling through his charming personality. He was killed when Dante was 16._

_Friends: There is Marcus Fray, a man Violet's mom's age that seems to want to do anything for Calla Lily. He accepts the girls as if they were his own. He's a fair man with sunkissed tan, blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. He lives on his own and has a godson Dante's age. Peter Lightwood. Peter Lightwood is a blonde haired boy with piercing violet colour eyes and a prize many females want. He's a good friend to Dante and was the reason Dante's mom finally got to see Marcus again. He converses with Dante's family a lot in their childhood and soon started going over at every moment when Jason died. He's sort of like the brother Dante never had. He use to think of Holly, Eglantine Rose and Lilac as little sisters until the day Holly jumped off a tree and began to beat up Jake. That's the day he fell in love with her. Eventually he ended up confessing to Calla Lily and Dante how much he worships the ground Holly walks on receiving a few weird looks from Dante. Peter never mentioned his feelings to Holly treating her like a sister to the point it got nauseating. (Quote from Eglantine Rose) Until the hunger games. Also Peter often at times slips extra bit of food to the family while no one's looking._

_Blanca Villa – Black hair brown eyed and fair skinned girl who's cousin is Sophia but acts as if they are sisters. She's rather close to Sophia and gives out great advice to others. She doesn't allow anyone in the group to dwell on the negativity and brings out the positive side._

_Sophia Villa - Chestnut brown hair and brown eyes with a tan from being outdoors. Talkative and the diva in the group. She talks about anything that bothers her without any shame. Her and Blanca together would create one scene at a party._

_Clarissa Faye- Intelligent girl who has a habit putting her head into studying and rather serious about it. She prefers the indoors but does what she can to help her family. She's rather shorter then her twin sister Athena. Wavy black hair brown eyes and fair skin._

_Athena Faye – Tallest but younger one of the twins. Fair skinned with black straight hair and emerald green eyes. She's much more playful twin and rather artistic hand. She enjoys reading of the sort._

_Audra Aella – Light brown hair and eyes with rather tanned skin. She's rather athletic and enjoys spending her time outside. She's a great person to talk to and to listen to any conversation or problem one has. She may be named after a storm but knows when to bring the sunshine._

_Adella Aella - Black curly hair along with dark brown eyes and pale. Was rather sick when she was a child. She tends to be a bit negative, especially on herself which has Audra flicking her playfully. But she has a kind and knows when to give a helping hand. Whether Dante wants it or not._

_9. Background: His mom and sibling are rather close thanks to Jason Lupin, (Date's father). For as long as he could remembered, his father was abusive physically and mentally. However he was clever to cover his tracks. His main targets was his wife, daughters and Dante. He was cruel and and inhumane to the women in the household, especially Dante because he looks too much like his mom. Jason was convinced that Dante was the son of Marcus Fray. To top that off, he was infuriated that his other three children were girls and that his two youngest daughters aren't his. To top it off, Dante wasn't strong when he a child, he was rather sickly like his mom at first but got better by the time he was eight. Jason forced everyone harsh manual labor at the house with such little food, while his wife worked herself to exhaustion with two jobs while he stayed at home doing who knows what. Also he made sure that the children entered their name more then once._

_Lilac still wasn't of age at that time, he required Holly to submit her name no less then 15 times, Eglatine Rose no less then 20 and Dante himself no less then 25 times. However Dante would instead enter his name for instance 50 times and his eligible sisters would enter 5 times each. However when Dante was 16, Holly 14, Eglantine Rose 12 and Lilac 8 their father arrested and killed on the spot by the Peacekeepers._

_Dante suspected that someone perhaps tipped them off about Jason's suspicious behavior. But then later learns that he's been stealing from the crops grown and other such criminal acts. Dante's family was forced to pay off all of Jason's debts leaving them very little. But they survived thanks to Marcus and his godson Peter._

_However 2 years later they managed with their own house all doing what they can to help the family survive. Her mom works as a Healer and has Eglatine Rose and Lilac work by her side, despite their age. Dante and Holly however work at the fields. Unknown to his family Dante silently steals and gathers bits of crop and hides it until he gets home and stashes it away from his family. He hardly ever eats and often at times divides his portion of the meal with his three younger sisters and mom. Soon that all changed at the reaping._

_10. Unfortunate "Chosen One" or Volunteer: Volunteer_

_11. If Volunteer, why? His youngest sister Lilac was chosen. He pulled Lilac away and solemnly declared that he volunteers and would take her sister's place._

_12. Strength: He has often excelled at aiming with daggers but uses a whip to protect his family. He's excellent at dodging any incoming weapons as well as having a photographic memory in recalling the sorts of plants used for healing and eating. Knows how to fight hand on hand._

_13. Weaknesses: He tends to shy away from conversation unless the individual manages to strike a conversation. Only relies on those that he could trust which is very rare that he does trust anyone outside his family. He cares too much over someone's well being and forgets himself. He can't lie._

_Weapon of Choice: Great at using a whip to disarm his opponents despite their size. Has done this often to males who've tried to take advantage of his sisters and mom. He finds it easy to disarm first and then attack them. He has practice taking arrows and aiming it to his target._

_15. District token: Dragon pendant that use to belong to his mom's dad. He was going to get it for his 18 birthday_

_16. Interview quote (optional): My mom taught me that even the smallest flower can strike a deadly blow, for in beauty and love there is great strength_

_17. Would they be interested in an alliance? Yes they would, but perhaps if the other party would need to ask him first._

_18. Would they be interested in a relationship? Yes he would._

_19. Do they plan on braving the bloodbath at the Cornucopia? Dante plans more on surviving if anything. He might end up caught in the bloodbath if he was cornered in._

_20. If another tribute hosted a small party before the Games, would they attend? If he is familiar with the tribute he would attend the party, but he would more likely do so if his family or friend/tribute friend attends as well._

_21. If there was a rebellion among the tributes, would they join? Why or why not? He would definitely will. He would be part of such rebellion, ensuring she his family and friends are in safety._

_22. Let's assume ghosts are real for a moment. Would your tribute be afraid of them? If he was caught off guard meeting them at first. But he would attempt to befriend the ghost._

_Is your tribute good at navigating, or do they easily get lost? He is good at navigating. He is someone who knows his way around forests and gardens. Not to mention with a photographic memory_

Name: Jezza Time*

District: 12

Age: 14

Gender: Female

Appearance: Tall and thin, with short blond hair that's out of place in District 12. Blue eyes.

Personality: Jezza is as prissy as a girl from District 12 can afford to be. Her family isn't from the Seam, so they're richer than most, but Jezza spends all the time she can either sewing herself new dresses or buying them. She hates mud, and never stops talking. She always finds a way to make herself the center of attention, no matter what the subject is. She's under the everlasting impression that everyone wants to hear everything there is to know about her.

Family/Friends/Background: Her mother is a seamstress in town, and her father died when she was young. Jezza is an only child, and her mother spoils her as much as she can. At school, Jezza has had the reputation for most boyfriends ever, and she just dumped her latest boyfriend Ken last week. Her best friend is a boy named Carson.

Unfortunate "Chosen One" or Volunteer: Chosen

If Volunteer, why? n/a

Strengths (at least 2): hiding, throwing knives

Weaknesses (at least 3): running, edible plants, hunting

Weapon of Choice: knife

District Token (optional): A light pink hair ribbon

Interview outfit idea (optional): A pink evening gown with black and red rhinestones forming flames at the hem and the neckline.

Interview quote (optional): Well, Caesar, honestly, I'm a little worried about going into the arena. I don't really know how good my chances are, and more than anything I just want to go home and apologize to my ex-boyfriend because I didn't even get to say goodbye to him. Oh, and Caesar, it's such an awful feeling because here I am, looking all pretty and he's out there all alone with no one to comfort him and oh, Caesar, I just hope that I can go home.

Would they be interested in an alliance? yes.

Would they be interested in a relationship? Yes.

Do they plan on braving the bloodbath at the Cornucopia? No

If another tribute hosted a small party before the Games, would they attend? Yes

If there was a rebellion among the tributes, would they join? Why or why not? Yes, just to stay in the in crowd.

Let's assume ghosts are real for a moment. Would your tribute be afraid of them? yes. she would faint on the spot.

Is your tribute good at navigating, or do they easily get lost? She gets lost really easily.


	3. Reapings: Districts 1 thru 4

**Greetings, people of the world! Marjorie will be narrating the first third of the Reapings today!**

**Fair warning: The Reapings are repetitive. I apologize in advance. I also apologize if Marjorie doesn't like your tribute- it's not foreshadowing their death or anything, but she's a Capitol brat...we must deal with her brattiness :)**

**Also, if you haven't already, make sure to plan an original alliance/romance if your tribute wants/needs one. If a group gets too big or there's too many couples, I may tweak them, but in the end there are two alliances, regardless of who your tribute is. Until that point, groups will gradually be coming together, so the alliances you've set up will be recognized at some point. **

**Other than that, I hope you like it, and please review if you can!**

**~IceTigers**

_Marjorie Snow_

"Mom!" I shriek. "I got gum stuck in my hair!" Panicked, I struggle to remove the gross, sticky strands from my precious curls. _Note to self: never fall asleep with gum in mouth. _

Thankfully, Mother understands the severity of my predicament, and comes running in with an unopened jar of _Gum Be Gone. _Whoever invented that stuff is a pure genius. Even if they're from District Twelve.

"Oh, Marjorie, you poor darling," Mom says, being careful to open the jar without chipping her freshly manicured nails. She pinches some of the white gel between her fingers and gently smears it over the gum in my hair. Miraculously, the gum recoils into a small sphere, which is easily picked from my curls.

"Thank you," I breathe, relief washing over me. "I was so worried."

"I know, sweetie." Mom envelops me in a warm, reassuring hug. "But you look beautiful now. Those new eyelashes are absolutely divine." I grin up at her and bat the shimmering gold feathers on my eyes. They're fake, of course, but they're beautiful. Mother says that ever since the famous stylist Cinna, everyone has been wearing gold on their eyes. She says it's a fad that will never fade. I think it will, eventually. All things do. Except the Hunger Games, that is. As long as the Gamemakers keep their brilliant minds working, the Capitol will always be entertained.

"Marjorie! Mom! The Reapings are starting!" Liam calls from the sitting room. Mom and I exchange excited smiles as we race each other to the sitting room. Mom almost trips in her six-inch heels, but I'm barefoot, giving me an advantage. I leap onto the couch and cross my legs, staring at the Capitol seal on the screen. Father looks at me reproachfully from his plush chair in the corner. I have lost my air of superiority in my excitement. Color rises to my cheeks, and, ashamed, I place both feet on the floor and cross my ankles, folding my hands neatly in my lap.

"Good afternoon, Capitol citizens!" Caesar Flickerman comes to life on the screen, his lavender hair contrasting with his dark blue suit. Father tells me that lavender is the color he uses for Quarter Quells. It's a wonderful color, and for a brief moment, I consider streaking my light blue hair with it. But no, I couldn't. My hair is too fabulous to risk it. Perhaps some lavender rhinestones under my eyes..._that_ may be something to consider...

My fashion fantasies are cut short as Caesar refers to the escort of District One, Zuri Pazinsky. Now _she _is stylish. Crimped platinum blond hair falls to her waist, and it's highlighted with hot pink and various shades of red. Gold glitter is her eyeshadow, and her lips are as red as blood. Her designer red dress looks like it's _made_ of glitter, and whenever she moves, she leaves a trail of red dust. Zuri feels the camera's mechanical stare, and smiles brightly, revealing a row of perfect white teeth.

"Welcome, welcome," she pleasantly greets the citizens of District One. "I assume you all know what today is?" A chorus of "Reaping day!" answers her. She smiles even wider. "That's right! Before we begin, I'd like to wish you all a very happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be _ever _in your favor."

"Happy Hunger Games!" the crowd shouts back. Zuri nods her head in acknowledgement before prancing over to the girls' Reaping Ball. She carefully plucks the first name she sees off the top, and reads in a loud clear voice.

"Rae Parson." Before Rae can even step forward, at least three dozen girls shoot their hands up in the air. But one of them runs forward. She stops in front of the stage.

"I volunteer as tribute!" she announces. A collective groan escapes the other girls in the crowd who didn't have the sense to voice their desire to volunteer first. Loud applause is heard from two people standing in the back with the parents, and two of the victors on the stage are grinning broadly. Glitter and Prism Tristan. Siblings. I grin along with them. This girl must be their sister.

The volunteer steps onto the stage and smoothes her silky green dress, her wavy auburn hair. She overlooks the audience with a superior stare, pride in her expression. Zuri takes the microphone from the stand and glides over to the girl.

"What is your name, dearie?" she asks, holding out the microphone.

"My name is Sparkle Tristan," the girl answers confidently. Her expression is impassive, but I can see her hands shaking. Sparkle seems to notice this as well, because she makes an effort to hide it by holding her hands behind her back.

"Tristan?" Zuri repeats. "You don't mean you're related to Glitter and Prism, do you?" Sparkle nods, a grin breaking her face.

"My older brother and sister," she replies. Zuri looks to the crowd in astonishment.

"Well, well, well, I'm sure you've had fantastic training." Sparkle nods. "Miss Sparkle, you may be the one to beat, my dear!" Zuri tells her, patting her shoulder. "Shall we see who will be accompanying Miss Tristan into the arena?" Cheers erupt from the audience, and Zuri pulls a slip of paper from the boys' Reaping Ball.

"West Howard," she reads. A tall boy from the section of eighteen-year-olds groans, and I assume it's because he can't volunteer now. And sure enough, a plethora of boys are running to the stage, punching and kicking each other out of the way to assure themselves a spot in the Games. Shouts of "I volunteer" are heard, but no one can tell who they come from. One of the boys recognizes this problem, leaping onto the stage and grabbing the microphone from Zuri's hands.

"I volunteer," he states calmly. Relieved that his spot is officially reserved, he casually runs a hand through his dirty blond hair, his dark eyes gleaming with satisfaction.

Zuri is temporarily fazed by the stampede, but as the rest of the boys reluctantly return to their assigned sections, she regains her professional composure and turns to the boy standing on the stage.

"Your name, sir?"

"Sasha. Sasha Hoycota," he replies. I shiver at the tone in his voice. This boy is not to be ignored, I can see that already.

Zuri instructs Sasha and Sparkle to shake hands, and as they do, they stare each other down intensely. They both know that only one of them can live, and they're both clearly determined to be that one. After ushering the tributes into the Justice Building for their goodbyes, Zuri addresses the crowd one more time, wishing the crowd a Happy Hunger Games before the screen fades on District One.

District Two appears almost immediately. The stone Justice Building bears the Capitol seal, letting everyone know that the Capitol is in control of everything. That my father is in control of everything. The thought makes me smile.

Adaline, the escort for District Two, is bouncy and excited. Her bright green hair is braided off to one side, and glittering, swirling green tattoos decorate her body. Some of my friends think she's pretty, but personally, I think she looks like walking broccoli. She recites basically the same speech as Zuri, and twirls over to the girls' ball. Her fluffy light green dress spins around her like a whirlpool, and is still floating around her slim waist as she reaches into the glass ball to withdraw a piece of paper. Another spin takes her back to the microphone stand.

"Rebecca Glass," she squeaks. A volunteer speaks up right away, and a short girl with straight black hair comes forward. When Adaline asks for her name, she introduces herself as Anastasia Rein. She also introduces herself as the future victor.

"As if," my brother huffs beside me. Father chuckles and Mother grins. We all know this girl isn't going to win. She doesn't have the "it" factor that most victors have had in the past. But with an attitude like that, it will be fun to watch her.

Adaline continues the ceremony by retrieving a boy's name from the opposite ball. Before she can even finish reading his name, a volunteer has raised his hand and begun climbing to the stage. I draw in a breath. This boy, or man, rather, is huge, at least six feet tall, and 100% muscle. I wouldn't want to cross him in hand-to-hand combat, that's for sure. Actually, scratch that. I wouldn't want to cross him _anywhere._ He stands tall and confident, a seemingly chronic frown etched upon his face. His light brown hair is standing straight up, probably with the assistance of hair gel, and I know right away that the stylists are going to want to keep it like that. His expression is calm, composed, and dangerous. Scary, even.

"No!" a little boy's voice suddenly shouts from the crowd. "No, Noah, no!" The boy on the stage allows his eyes to flicker towards the sound of the voice, but betrays no emotion. Whoever the little boy is doesn't speak up again. He seems to be the only one who doesn't want the boy on stage to enter the arena.

"I take it you're Noah, then?" Adaline confirms, holding the microphone in front of his face.

"Noah James," he confirms. Adaline nods her useless approval and stands between Noah and Anastasia.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present your tributes for the 100th annual Hunger Games!" The crowd cheers, shouting their names in a rhythmic chant. The camera pans through the crowd, and I see the little boy standing in the background with his parents, a lone tear rolling down his cheek.

Something stirs in me, something like sympathy. It's a new feeling, and I don't like it. I should not feel sorry for this little boy. His brother is a huge contender anyways, judging by his size alone. I purge my thoughts of the boy and focus on the happiness of the Games, which is very appropriate because Adaline is wishing us all a Happy Hunger Games now.

The screen fades to black, and we have to wait an agonizing three minutes before District Three comes into view. The Reapings are staggered through the day so that we can watch them all live, but there is always at least five minutes of empty space between districts in case one of them takes too long. It really would be a tragedy to not get to see a part of the Reapings. After all, without the Reapings, we would have no Games. But the delay tries my patience.

Finally, District Three appears in front of me.

District Three is one of my least favorite districts, because it's so ugly. Factories spew smoke from big, metal tubes, and everything seems to be covered in a fine layer of gray.

I don't care for the District Three escort much either. Kero Quincy is a stupid, stupid, _stupid_ girl with bright pink hair and alternating pink and green stripes on her dress. If that wasn't bad enough, her eyelashes are long, thin green feathers that reach out at least two inches on either side of her head. If Adaline looked like broccoli, Kero looks like a waterless watermelon.

And her voice is like nails on a chalkboard.

"Greetings, friends! Welcome to the Reaping ceremony for the 100th Hunger Games! May the odds be _ever _in your favor." I cringe, and Liam does too. She's awful.

"I'm going to go a little out of order this year, since it is a Quarter Quell!" Kero decides. "Boys first!" She shuffles over to the ball on the left side of the stage and yanks one out with force. "Zephyr Bryant."

The camera pans to show a shocked sixteen-year-old dark haired boy emerge from his section, and slowly makes his way to the stage. He walks so slow and with so much reluctance in his steps, I could swear he thinks he's walking to his death.

If this is going to be his attitude for the entire duration of the Games, one could argue that he is.

Kero doesn't bother to re-introduce him before moving on to the girls. I'm glad. The less of her voice I have to hear, the better. After digging a slip of paper out of the ball, she scampers back to the microphone and calls for Paisley Braun.

Paisley Braun turns out to be a reasonably pretty girl with long hair that's various shades of blond. Her eyes are a stormy gray, which seems to reflect her mood. Her mouth is pressed together in a tight, firm line, and she seems to be bitting back screams of outrage rather than tears as she approaches the stage. I wish she would scream, get into trouble. Crying is always nice, and it points out a weak tribute, but a truly angry tribute is a rare treat to spice up any bland district. Needless to say, District Three lacks the spice.

Paisley stands on the lip of the stage and focuses her gray eyes straight ahead, unblinking and unwavering. Only her blue cotton dress and a few strands of her hair float in the breeze, and the subtle rise and fall of her chest is the only thing that tells me she's alive. She's silent, but strong. I can't decide if this makes her admirable or forgettable.

Kero asks for volunteers, but no one speaks up. They stare at Zephyr and Paisley with fresh sorrow in their eyes, and when Kero recites the happy Hunger Games speech, she is answered with a halfhearted applause. Less than halfhearted, actually. The sound barely registers on the speakers. The change from District Three to District Four is welcome.

In District Four, the ocean crashes behind the Justice Building, roaring in celebration of the Games. The District Four escort, Jemima, looks like the ocean personified. Her hair is spun up on top of her head in carefully orchestrated curls, and is dyed a beautiful sea green. The bodice on her strapless dress is a fabricated conch shell wrapped around her body, and her deep blue tutu-like skirt has a frothy trim to represent sea foam. All of her makeup is done in blues, greens, and whites.

After a few brief words of welcome, Jemima springs over to pick the girl's name. I can see several girls in the crowd readying themselves to jump forward and volunteer. To build suspense and adrenaline, Jemima takes her time selecting a slip of paper and unfolding it.

"Georgia Trims," she announces. A girl already poised to jump leaps onto the stage.

"I volunteer as tribute!" she shouts. Her voice is barely audible over the roar of the ocean behind her, but Jemima hears her well enough to declare her the official volunteer. The other heartbroken girls are sent back.

"Would you like to introduce yourself?" Jemima asks the girl. It's more of an order put politely, really, but the girl appears not to notice. She takes the microphone from Jemima gratefully and addresses the crowd.

"Good afternoon, District Four. My name is Ariel Penn, and I'll be representing you in the fourth Quarter Quell!" Ariel's announcement is received with enthusiasm, and my mother laughs beside me.

"What?" I ask her, confused at her amusement.

"There's an old movie, _The Little Mermaid. _The heroine was a mermaid with red hair named Ariel," my mother explains. Still perplexed, I peer closer at the screen. I had previously thought Ariel's hair was brown, but it's a lovely dark red when it's in the light.

"Oh," is all I say. She has pretty hair, sure, but does that win the Games? No.

By the time the crowd is finished cheering, Jemima has already selected a boy's name from the Reaping Ball. A name is read, and the pushing and shoving episode from District One begins anew until one boy is victorious.

And _dang. _He's attractive. Hair the color of a copper penny, deep brown eyes, and perfectly tanned skin. Not to mention a perfect smile. District Four must be where the cute boys live, because my mother says she had friends who were head over heels for a guy named Finnick Odair from District Four. He died in the last Quell.

Jemima hands the extremely attractive guy the microphone, and he speaks his name into it in a low, seductive voice.

"Jax Lucas." He executes a rehearsed flip of his copper hair and winks suggestively at the camera. I melt into a puddle of goo.

"And there you have it!" Jemima shouts through the microphone. "Your District Four tributes!" The crowd cheers, harmonizing with the ocean. Jax and Ariel are led into the Justice Building, and the screen goes black.

Now I have to wait ten whole minutes before District Five appears on the screen. _Stupid live television._

**Hope you liked it! Districts 5-8 will be up soon!**

**R&R!**

_**~IT**_


	4. Reapings: Districts 5 thru 8

**Glad you guys liked the last chapter! Here are the Reapings for Districts 5-8! We must deal with Marjorie's stupidity once again. **

**Remember to settle your alliances and relationships before training starts, so I can write everything down in my official notebook. Yes, I do have an official notebook. It's purple. **

**Anyways, enjoy!**

_Marjorie Snow_

"What do you think so far, Dad?" Liam inquires, leaning forward on his elbows. His glittery purple hair catches the sun and purple lights adorn the walls like a disco ball. My father strokes his chin thoughtfully for a moment before answering.

"I think that these with be a Games to remember," he says vaguely.

"Where are their friends? Do they get any screen time at all?" I ask, pinning a blue curl back into place.

"Individual pictures of them will be shown at the end," Father nods. "But no, they don't get any screen time. The fact that they are there is enough." I can tell that Dad isn't revealing all of his thoughts, but then again, he hardly ever does. Rumor has it he'll only have honest discussions with either Mom or the Head Gamemaker. Liam and I know what we need to know, and nothing more.

Suddenly, District 5 pops into view. They seem to have made an effort to keep their Justice Building clean, because it's shinier than the other districts. Well, I don't guess stone can actually be _shiny, _but it's not as gritty as the other stages.

The people are cleaner too, I notice. Their hair is neatly combed, their clothes are fairly neat, and although they're boring to look at as a whole, certain individuals stand out in the crowd. I suppose they possess a certain energy that the rest of the districts lack. This surprises me, because District Five is fairly average. Nothing really special goes on there, and I don't even know their district job. I probably should, but I don't.

The escort, Roxie Tratt, is nothing special. The better escorts go to the better districts, so Roxie is average as well. Her hair is its natural shade of white-blond, but it's streaked with black and dark blue that swirls together in her huge updo. A black and blue polka-dot dress hangs from her small frame, and platform heels click across the stage as she struggles not to trip. Roxie has an easy and beautiful smile, but that's all she's got going for her when it comes down to it.

"Welcome to the Reaping. Now is the time to select the tributes of District Five!" Roxie prattles. "Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be _ever _in your favor." After carefully selecting a slip of paper from the ball containing the girl names, she scuttles back to the mic.

"Malia Blakely."

For a short moment, I don't think anyone's coming. The Peacekeepers search the sea of faces anxiously, looking for some sign of recognition at the name, silently begging for it to have an owner. Of course it has an owner. How could it not? But finally, I see movement in the crowd, and a girl steps forward.

Malia Blakely does not live up to her district's overall sense of cleanliness. Her dull brown hair is frizzy and tangled, and as she's scanned by the camera, I see the dirt caked under her ragged nails. I feel sorry for her. Someone who doesn't even care about what they look like obviously has no reason to look their best, and that is a true tragedy.

As Malia makes her way up to Roxie, the camera zooms in on her face. I purse my lips in concentration as I try to decipher her expression. Her furrowed brow suggests anger, but her brown eyes are fixed in a stare that seems to be shooting daggers at anything and everything that crosses its path, which suggests something more. Hatred. This girl hates something desperately. I want to know what that something is. Roxie? The Capitol? The Games? Her nails?

But stupid Roxie doesn't ask. Instead, she grabs a boy's name and reads, "Conan Ledger!" A small boy approaches the stage, and weeping is heard behind him, but I don't pay attention to that. The girl, Malia, is standing straight and with her chin held high. When she senses the camera on her, fire flashes in her dark eyes.

I can't wait to get a glimpse into this girl's life.

District Five must have been a little behind schedule, because just as Conan makes it to the stage, the screen changes to District Six. District Six deals with all the transportation issues, so as a result, it's littered with broken down trains, cars, and hovercrafts. The whole district is a muddy brown, the single ugliest color in the history of ugly colors. Even the escort Yesubai Ever has mud on her white shoes. I'm positive that those shoes were spotless upon her arrival. She's watched the Reapings before, so why she chose white shoes I may never know.

Father tells me that he plans on firing Yesubai next year. She has virtually no stage personality, and what District Six really needs is a little excitement. A boring lady with a white dress, hair, and powdered face is far from exciting. And sure enough, all she says before beginning the ceremony is the expected "Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor." She doesn't even stress the word "ever." It's pathetic, really. She walks over to the girl Reaping Ball staring at her muddy shoes.

Isabella Vay is called, but by then I'm already half asleep, lulled by Yesubai's monotonous voice. A girl walks up and stands on the stage, wiping tears from her eyes. She's a weakling.

Thomas Mcaw is called next. Liam leans forward, thoroughly interested, as the boy comes forward. Thomas is a small, skinny boy with skin as pale as a vampire, hair as brown as his district, and blue eyes as pale as ice. If it weren't for his body language, I would write him off as a weakling as well, but he regards the crowd with a calculating glare, his hands held behind his back. I can practically see the gears turning inside his head.

"Just watch that kid be a ruthless killer," Liam comments. Why this boy interests him so much I don't know, but judging by Thomas's attitude, Liam may be right.

"I'll bet he could bang someone's skull in with a hammer. Probably been handling one of those his whole life," I note. Liam laughs openly and leans back on the sofa, stretching his arms across the back.

"I'll bet you're right."

District Six fades, and District Seven takes its place right on schedule. The trees that surround the Justice Building are green and luscious, and their leaves rustle in the breeze; a calming sound. Eerily calm, considering that two children are being sent to die. District Seven has always been eerie, I suppose. Maybe it's the never ending silence of the crowd, or maybe it's the trees. It's probably a little bit of both, like the trees are more alive than the people who cut them down.

Laurelin Nina, the escort, is awkwardly standing on the stage, obviously oblivious to the fact that she's being broadcasted live all over Panem. She smoothes her bubblegum pink hair and lilac skirt, glancing around nervously like a jittery hamster. Only a shout of "L, we're live!" from the cameraman brings her to attention. How mortifying.

"My fondest greetings to you all," she begins, "and may I open by thanking you all for allowing me to escort your brave tributes to the Capitol this year." I snicker. She knows she's getting fired for not paying attention. Her thanks is received by a silent audience.

"Well...may the odds be _ever _in your favor," she says. She dances over to one of the glass balls, and reaches her manicured hand deep. After shuffling around for a few moments, she finally decides on one slip of paper.

"Tea Whythers?" she reads. "Did I pronounce that right?" I'm assuming she did, because a pretty girl is leaving the area roped off for the sixteen-year-olds. Her reddish brown hair is swept up into a high ponytail, and her face carries a content expression. When she reaches the stage, she gives the crowd a dazzling smile and waves optimistically. I doubt she's actually happy about being chosen- no one from the outlying districts ever is, but she seems to be trying to send a message of hope to her friends and family.

"Tea! What an interesting name!" Laurelin comments. She's trying to make up for her mistake by being more interesting and interacting with the tributes, but I wish she would stop. We'll hear all this stuff and more from Caesar Flickerman.

"Yes," Tea replies. "When my mother was pregnant, she was always craving tea." In the Capitol, this would have earned a laugh, but District Seven retains its silent reputation. One more reason why questions are best saved for interviews. Laurelin finally realizes this.

"Well, isn't that interesting, folks!" she giggles. "And who shall be the lucky young man to accompany Tea into the arena?" To answer her own question, she scampers to the opposite side of the stage and takes a piece of paper.

"Keldon Peak."

"No!" I hear the weak cry of a girl. The camera doesn't find her, but as the boy I take to be Keldon climbs onto the stage, it's clear on his face that he knows who it was. A girlfriend, probably. I can see Caesar taking notes right now.

Keldon isn't anything special; a boy of average height with short dark brown hair and amber-colored eyes. I'm assuming he could be considered attractive in District Seven, but I don't really know. I've never been to District Seven. It's clear that he's reasonably popular, because several people in the crowd look distraught, clinging to each other in worry. But Keldon, however shocked and horrified he looks, maintains his composure. I see some kind of determination in his eyes, and that makes him stand out a bit in my mind. Tributes determined to get home are good to keep an eye on. They often start out as underdogs, but as their resolution to get home grows, they evolve into merciless killers.

Laurelin politely instructs Keldon and Tea to shake hands, and they oblige. She wishes us all a Happy Hunger Games, and the screen switches to District Eight.

I grumble in frustration when I already see the female tribute standing on the stage. They must have started early, because I'm pretty sure District Seven was right on schedule. The camera zooms in on the powdered face of Uma Chrysler just in time for her to announce the male tribute.

"Ryan Parrish!" An almost visible wave of sadness overcomes the crowd as a tall, gangly boy with strawberry blond hair saunters up to the stage. His expression is unfazed and his strides long and confident, but the reaction to him being reaped suggests that he has many loved ones in the crowd.

Ryan climbs up to the stage and shakes Uma's hand kindly before grinning and waving to the crowd. His happiness is fake, I'm certain, just like the girl from 7, but it's enjoyable to watch. His bright green eyes have a playful twinkle, and he looks like he's itching to say something, but Uma never gives him the opportunity.

"Your tributes, Carolyn Grisha and Ryan Parrish!" she announces. _Carolyn. So that's the other girl's name. _"Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be _ever_ in your favor." The screen blacks out, and the ten minute wait starts all over again.

I decide to take a short nap.

**Hope you liked it! **

**R&R!**

_**~IceTigers**_


	5. Reapings: Districts 9 thru 12

_**Hey guys, quick question: When I go to look at the story, it won't show me chapter five, although it says it's published, and I got an email saying it was updated. Can you guys see it or not? **_

**Are the Reapings getting repetitive yet? Believe me, I'm glad they're almost over, because I'm running out of adjectives, escort personalities, names and hair colors :)**

**Hope you like this last chapter! Keep in mind, all alliances will be posted at the end of the Tribute Parade chapter, which will hopefully be posted by Saturday at the latest. I have most everything down, but a couple people have yet to get back to me. If you don't respond, I'm going with my ideas, and you may not like them as much as your own. Anyways...**

**Enjoy!**

_Marjorie Snow_

I open my eyes on the rolling green hills of District 10. _District 10. That's not right. Where's District 9?_

"Where's District 9?" I ask.

"You slept through it, sweetie," Mom informs me.

"WHAT?"

"Yeah, but nothing really happened. The tributes' names are Jonathan Knit and Wysteria Marshon. I think they were both crying," Liam says.

"Oh, well that's okay then." I relax, slouching on the sofa. Two criers. I didn't miss much.

The District 10 escort, Orla Terryberry, has her deep purple hair woven into two knots on either side of her head, which looks horrendous. Her purple lipstick is nice, and so is the gold and purple dress, but her hair is truly horrid. Mom mentions something about recommending Orla to her hair stylist, so I'm not alone in my digust. However, her personality is bubbly enough for me to ignore her hair. For now.

"Hi, guys!" she squeals, waving happily at the solemn crowd. "Isn't this exciting? We're going to pick the tributes for the 100th Hunger Games!" _Well, duh. _"Ladies first!" Orla bounces over to the girls' ball and plucks a name from its depths.

"Shayna Rogers!"

The cameraman finds Shayna in the sea of faces, and she comes to the stage eagerly. She's very pretty, with long, thick, curly strawberry blond hair, long eyelashes, and glittering blue eyes. She actually seems somewhat happy to be going to the Capitol, and unlike Tea and Ryan's reactions, which were clearly only to set their families at ease, Shayna seems genuine.

Orla notices this, and as soon as Shayna reaches her, she asks, "Aren't you excited?"

"Yes, ma'am," Shayna responds with an eager nod of her head. "I mean, not about the possibly dying part, but I've always wanted to see the Capitol!" I grin at this. Who hasn't? Even the most hate-filled tributes are speechless at the sight of the Capitol. And who could blame them? The luminescent skyscrapers and stylish people are enough to make anyone's jaw drop.

Orla takes a moment to gush over the Capitol's beauty, and with every description, Shayna's smile grows. Finally, when she realizes she's probably taking up too much time, Orla moves to the opposite Reaping Ball and calls for Wendel Hasby.

Wendel is a rather small boy, only 12 or 13, and he leaves his circle of friends slowly and reluctantly. I can't help but wonder which one of them it will be in the other arena.

Shayna and Wendel shake hands without being asked, and Orla steps between them, practically glowing with pride.

"Shayna Rogers and Wendel Hasby, your tributes for the 100th annual Hunger Games! Good luck to you both, and may the odds be _ever _in your favor." Shayna and Wendel are ushered into the beckoning Justice Building before the screen switches to District 11.

I firmly believe that District 11 is the most beautiful district in Panem, as far as nature goes. It has beautiful orchards that stretch out as far as the eye can see, and golden fields of grain that any child would love to get lost in, so long as they had a GPS to get them out. Curling ivy decorates the Justice Building like a celebratory garland. It's sorta funny, because these people don't generally celebrate the Games. In fact, they're the most likely to rebel against the Capitol, but we tolerate them anyways.

The escort is Metella Reese, a very short woman with brown hair that's been spray painted all the colors of the rainbow, in order, of course. Her dress is also a rainbow, elaborately embroidered and obviously very expensive. The fabric shimmers and swirls whenever she moves, almost like one of Cinna's creations. It's not Cinna's, as he disappeared, but it's really quite beautiful, and I make a mental note to find one for myself. Chances are she'll only wear it once, anyhow.

Metella is by far the most sophisticated of the escorts, which I find ironic since she's in the most barbaric district. She greets the people graciously, and thanks them for being such a great district to represent before crossing the stage to pick a girl's name.

Penny Quinn is called. Many children in the crowd gasp in despair as a little girl emerges from the twelve-year-old section. She's adorable, really, with dark brown eyes and slightly wavy brown hair side-parted and hanging in her face. She wears a sly smile, but I can't tell if it's for her or for the camera, which bothers me. Usually, I can decode these things. Hopefully, Caesar's interview will shed some light on this little girl.

When Penny makes it to the stage, she shoots a sad smile at a little blond girl in the front row, who is crying. I'm guessing that this is the girl who will be in the second arena, and she's not taking it well.

But I don't have time to dwell on this predicament, because Metella is stepping carefully across the stage to select the name of a boy. Her hand lingers in the glass ball for a moment as she deliberates over which slip of paper is worthy enough to be held in her fingers. After a long moment, she decides, and returns to the microphone, displaying the tiny white paper for the crowd to see. It's a very good technique, because it makes the audience antsy as they wait to discover who's fate is written inside.

The answer is Tyler Winters. The crowd murmurs amongst themselves as a sixteen-year-old boy comes forward. He looks much younger than sixteen; with his dark hair, brown eyes and small stature, he could easily pass for thirteen or fourteen. His name sounds vaguely familiar, and I decide that he must have had a sibling in the Games before. They must have died, because otherwise I'm absolutely positive I would remember. The odds are not in this family's favor.

But that only makes it more interesting for me.

Metella motions for Penny and Tyler to shake hands, and as they do, she wishes us all a very sophisticated Happy Hunger Games. The screen only stays black for a moment before the unchanged gray-brown scenery of District 12 appears.

Effie Trinket has been the District 12 escort all my life, and she hasn't aged a day. The plastic surgeries in the Capitol truly do work wonders. Caesar Flickerman is another example. He's probably going on ninety years old, but he still looks thirty, which quite frankly, I find odd. Old people should have _some _wrinkles. Not many, but some.

After a moment, Effie sees the camera, quickly pats her pink hair, and begins.

"Welcome to the District 12 Reaping ceremony," she says. "As you all know, this is the time where we select two young people, one man and one woman, to represent you in the annual Hunger Games." Effie has been in this district long enough to know that she won't get any applause, so she continues with "Ladies first, as always!" She prances to one of the Reaping Balls and selects a name from the outside edge.

"Jezza Time!" I may be mistaken, but for a moment I swear I hear laughter. Not a lot, of course, just a chuckle or two from the boys. In a moment, I see why.

Jezza Time is a pretty blue-eyed blond in a frilly pink dress. No doubt she's dated half the guys in that crowd. I'll bet she broke their hearts and kicked them into the mud, judging by their reaction to her being reaped. She puts on a weak smile as she stands beside Effie, who is admiring her dress. Effie strategically allows a brief moment of silence to let the news sink in that Jezza will be going to the Capitol, and then proceeds to pick a boy's name.

"Dante Lupin!"

There's a tortured silence as a tall boy with dark hair and eyes walks up to Effie. He's really hot too, actually, which is rare in District 12. His face is devoid of all emotions, although the energy in the crowd is high. They don't give any visible or audible reaction, but their quiet bravery speaks volumes. No one wants Dante in the Games this year. He stands in front of the Justice Building without moving a muscle, and doing so makes him look infinitely more intimidating. He's another one I wouldn't want to cross. No doubt he would have scored plenty of sponsors on his size and looks alone, but unfortunately for him, there are no sponsors this year.

Effie smiles widely at the crowd and motions for Dante and Jezza to shake hands. Jezza shrinks away from him slightly, as if intimidated, but Dante either doesn't notice, or pretends not to.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the tributes for the 100th annual Hunger Games!" Effie announces brightly. To Dante and Jezza she says, "Good luck, and may the odds be _ever_ in your favor."

The screen blacks out. The Reapings are over. But no one in my family moves. Not yet. And sure enough, Caesar Flickerman's unnaturally young face is projected onto the wall, Claudius Templesmith seated next to him.

"Well, Claudius," he begins, "I think we both can agree that that was a _very _interesting and exciting broadcast." Claudius nods his agreement as Caesar continues. "But it's not over yet folks! As you'll surely remember, this is a Quarter Quell, and we have a very promising spin that's been taken on the Games this year! Claudius, would you do us the honor of reminding us exactly what that spin consists of?"

"Gladly. Citizens, please note that there will be no sponsors this year. Of course, you may bet on the tribute of your choice, but you may not send gifts to them inside the arena. There are also no mentors, so the tributes will be left to their own devices when if comes to strategy and alliances. In addition, each tribute's best friend will be coming to the Capitol and entering a separate arena for their own Hunger Games. These Games will not be televised, but they _will _have a victor! Forty-eight children, two of which will be going home! Stay tuned, because these will be very exciting Games indeed!"

"Yes they will. Thank you for that, Claudius," Caesar chuckles. "And now folks, a special treat. You may have noticed that the companions of our brave young tributes were not shown, and while they will receive little to no screen time, they have, in fact, been collected, and are on their way to you! Here they are!"

Caesar's face is replaced by a slideshow of the tributes' friends. I don't pay attention, really, because since I won't be seeing anything of them, I don't care what they look like, but there is a curly-haired boy, a girl with piercing gray eyes, and, sure enough, the little blond girl from Eleven. Her eyes weren't quite dry when they took her picture. A name is under her: Tiffany. Last, they show a boy with odd violet eyes and blond hair. Peter. Peter's picture fades away, and is replaced by Caesar and Claudius's faces once more.

"Let's all be good hosts, folks!" Caesar instructs. "And of course, Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be _ever _in _your _favor."

"Remember to tune in tonight at eight for the Tribute Parade, or come down to Tribute Avenue to see it all firsthand. Tonight, history will be made!" Claudius reminds us. The Capitol seal takes over the screen and the anthem plays. I hum along, as does Liam.

Of course we'll be in Tribute Avenue tonight. We get the best seats, too, since we're the Presiden's children. Hopefully my boyfriend Donny will be able to come, too.

We have our tributes, so let the Games begin.

**The Reapings are over! I hope I met your expectations, and I really hope it didn't seem too rushed! It'll probably take me a little longer to do the Tribute Parade because I need to figure out costumes, but expect it no later than Saturday night. **

**R&R!**

_**~IceTigers**_


	6. Tribute Parade

**Glad you guys liked the Reapings!**

**And thank you all so much for getting the alliances in! They will be listed at the end of this chapter. **

**As for this chapter, this is the Tribute Parade! It will be narrated by Marjorie. I know you guys are probably sick of her by now, but it's the only fair way to do things, really. Next chapter, we'll be switching to tribute POVs!**

**Here's the district job list I used for the costumes:**

**D1: Luxury**

**D2: Quarries**

**D3: Technology**

**D4: Fishing**

**D5: Power**

**D6: Transportation**

**D7: Lumber**

**D8: Textiles**

**D9: Grain**

**D10: Livestock**

**D11: Agriculture**

**D12: Coal Mining**

**If it's not right…oh well. I think District 9 is either hunting or grain, and I really didn't want to do deer costumes, so I went with grain. As for the costumes, some are good, some are bad. Marjorie likes most of them- Capitol stylists have improved since Katniss and Peeta's days.**

**Enjoy!**

_Marjorie Snow_

"Donny!" I catch a glimpse of my boyfriend's trademark orange hair and chase after him. Stupid Donny, he's supposed to be with me…I grab his shoulder and turn him around. When he sees me, his eyes light up.

"There you are!" he grins. His perfect white teeth are practically glowing in the dim light. "Where are you sitting?"

"Where I usually sit, stupid," I scowl. I'm mad at him for not looking for me harder.

"All right, all right!" He holds his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry!"

"You should be," I say. But I reach up and kiss him anyways. "Let's go." I grab his wrist and lead him up the stairs to the balcony, where my parents and Liam are already seated. Donny wastes no time in running up to the edge and waving psychotically at the people seated below. Father grunts his disapproval, and I have to drag my idiot boyfriend back to sit with me. Angry, he crosses his legs and arms and pouts his lips.

"I just wanted to say hi," he complains.

"And you did. Now shut up."

"Alrighty." Without another word on the subject, he slides his arm around me and I lean into him. "When do you think it'll start?"

"Eight," I grumble.

"Right. Forgot." Donny and I don't speak again as the clock slowly ticks. The chatter of the citizens below us creates an excited and energized atmosphere, the people happily prattling on and on about the Reapings, discussing who they like and who they don't. I've already done this, of course, so I watch the clock with Donny.

At exactly eight o'clock PM, Caesar and Claudius appear on the huge screen at the opposite end of Tribute Avenue, right above the gates from which the tributes enter. They both look elated.

"Good evening, folks!" Caesar greets us. The crowd quiets down immediately, not wanting to miss a word. "Are we excited to see what our fabulous stylists have prepared for us tonight?" The audience responds with cheers; I am among them. Donny holds his hands high, clapping.

"Now, Caesar, I believe we are behind schedule!" Claudius announces, glancing at his platinum watch.

"Right you are, Claudius! We'll have to fix that, won't we?" More cheering. "Let the Tribute Parade begin!"

The gates open and District One's chariot enters, greeted by screams and applause. I run to the edge of the balcony with Donny to get a closer look at the costumes, not caring what my father has to say about it. He'll make it through.

And besides, the District One costumes are worth seeing. Sasha Lucas and Sparkle Tristan are both beautiful, painted a shimmering gold, with glittering rhinestones outlining their eyes and decorating their arms. The fabric on Sasha's golden suit is implanted with precious gemstones that reflect the light when it hits them, and Sparkle's gown is the same. It has a disco ball effect on the walls, reminding me of Liam's hair this morning. Both Sparkle and Sasha stand tall and proud, smiling and waving at the crowd. Roses are thrown their way, and Sparkly manages to catch one. She blows a kiss in the general direction where the rose came from, and at least a dozen hands shoot up to catch it.

"Now, as you all know, District One provides us with our luxury items, such as gold jewelry," Claudius is saying.

"Yes, Claudius, and I think we're all in agreement when I say that the stylist has managed to capture that essence with style!" Caesar gushes. "Oh, and District Two, would you like to tell us what District Two does, Claudius?" Claudius goes on to explain the importance of the quarries in District Two as the chariot rolls out, Noah James and Anastasia Rein on its back.

At first, I don't get it. Noah and Anastasia are both dressed in black leather jackets, dark sunglasses, and studded collars. Noah's hair is spiked, and Anastasia's is teased mercilessly. Only when I hear Claudius say the word "rock" do I finally connect the two together.

It seems to click in Caesar's brain as well, because he claps his hands together in realization, leaning forward into his microphone. "Rock stars! They're rock stars! Now, folks, before Panem, there were many celebrities who _sang_. Some of them sang _"rock"_ music, and often they were dressed in outfits very similar to what Noah and Anastasia are wearing now. You'll make the connection because as dear Claudius just explained to me here, District Two's job consists of working in the quarries. I must say, this stylist is quite clever indeed!"

_Indeed. _

Anastasia is waving to the crowd happily, blowing kisses and catching them, while Noah stands strong beside her, waving and smiling, but maintaining an intimidating composure. How he does it I don't know. I can't see his eyes because of the shades, so it must have something to do with that.

District Three is next. The crowd gasps in shock and wonder at their costumes, and for a moment, I don't think they're real people. They're both utterly unrecognizable, that's for sure. Paisley and Zephyr have both been painted a metallic silver color, and their bulky costumes are exactly the same, making their skin and their clothes look like one cohesive material. Paisley's hair is dusted with silver and wound into a severe bun in the back of her head, and Zephyr's hair is silver as well. The most unnerving thing is their eyes. They both glow an unnatural blue, a color that's been saturated to its full potential. And I don't know what makes them glow, but I don't want to. It's scary and mesmerizing at the same time, and while it freaks me out now, I'm certain it'll become the height of fashion before long.

"Well, would you look at that, Claudius!" Caesar exclaims in amazement. "Robots! Entirely appropriate, considering how District Three specializes in technology. And those eyes! Incredible!"

Paisley and Zephyr ignore the oohs and aahs of the crowd in what I assume is a rehearsed indifference. Their unnatural eyes don't move, instead staring straight ahead. Mechanical. Unfeeling.

I love it.

When everyone has gotten a chance to see the robot costumes, District Four's chariot comes streaming from the gates. Every teenage girl screams at the sight of Jax, and I would be among them if Donny wasn't standing right next to me. He looks amazing, as I expected. Ariel doesn't look too bad either. I'm guessing they used her name to come up with the idea, or maybe it's just a coincidence, but both of them are dressed as mer-people; Jax bare-chested and gorgeous, and Ariel in a strapless blue bikini top that shows off her rather large curves. They both have "tails," which look like they're decorated with iridescent scales. From one angle they're green, and from another they're electric blue. Jax holds a glimmering trident in his left hand, and Ariel's hair is decorated with water lilies.

"Ah, that's classic!" Caesar comments. "For those of you who don't know, District Four is the fishing district. We have them to thank for our delightful seafood!"

Ariel interacts with the crowd animatedly, throwing kisses to the back row and waving at everyone, her smile bright and beautiful. Jax doesn't wave, but every so often he'll catch a girl's eye and raise his eyebrows or wink at her. His smirk suggests arrogance, but no one notices. The girls he acknowledges promptly faint in their friends' arms. Donny laughs at them, and I make an attempt to seem indifferent. I'm glad when District Five enters and I can focus my attention on something else.

And District Five is a very good something to focus on. Conan Ledger and Malia Blakely are both dressed in dark gray bodysuits that cover them from their feet to their necks. Wound around their bodies are various sizes and colors of electric cords, woven in and out of each other like a complicated spider web. But the main focus of their costumes is the headdresses. The power cords appear to run through their hair and attach to the huge, shining lights on top of their heads. The lights are so bright that you can barely see Malia and Conan's faces, but even from here I can see the differences in their personalities. Conan is attempting to be charismatic by smiling and nodding in the crowd's direction, but Malia has her dark, hate-filled eyes fixed on the air directly in front of her, her arms pinned at her side so tightly you might think her stylist had messed up and tied her up in the cords. Sponsors don't count for anything this year, but if they did, Malia Blakely would not have many. Meanwhile, Claudius Templesmith is detailing the job of District Five.

"District Five is the power district," he tells us, "so they have the taxing responsibility of making sure that our electronics, designed by District Three, are always up and running. Districts Three and Five work in very close proximity, as you may have guessed. Without one, the other would be completely useless." _Good job, Claudius. That makes District Five sound important_.

"Thank you, Claudius. And District Six," Caesar begins as Thomas Mcaw and Isabella Vay are wheeled out of the gate, "is in charge of transportation. They build and repair our cars, trains, and hovercrafts."

Well, the District Six costumes aren't as impressive as the rest, but they're not as horrendous as they could be. One year, the tributes were actually dressed like giant cars. It was amusing, but very, very sad.

Clearly that stylist was fired, because these costumes aren't sad, just really boring. Thomas is wearing a gray t-shirt and pants, and Isabella is in a matching shirt dress. Both of them have a crown of wheels on their heads, and two bigger wheels are on their shoulders, forming the straps for their clothes. The stylist has attempted to make it interesting by stamping Thomas's shirt and Isabella's dress with train tracks, but the effect isn't there. Thomas makes up for it a little bit by waving and smiling politely, but Isabella just stands there with her arms crossed over her chest.

District Seven looks…different. For once, they're not dressed like trees. Instead, Keldon and Tea are in all white; a suit and a dress made of very stiff, crinkly looking fabric. They both wear little hats on their heads with a fan on either side. I just…don't get it. Until the ever reliable Caesar clears it all up for me, that is.

"Paper! Genius! Claudius, am I correct when I say that District Seven is the lumber district?"

"You are, Caesar."

"Well then, my conclusion is also correct! Folks, since District Seven cuts down all the trees, they must also manufacture Capitol paper products, because, folks, and I've just recently learned this, _paper _is made from _wood! _Now, I hope that that paper is altered in some way, because if it tears, we may have a very awkward situation on our hands, am I correct, Claudius?"

"You are, Caesar." The crowd laughs at Caesar's comment briefly before turning their attention back to Keldon and Tea. Both of them have a natural charisma, waving and smiling genuinely. Tea is grinning like she hasn't a care in the world, and while Keldon looks like he has something on his mind, he has managed to temporarily put it aside for the sake of pleasing the audience. I have to admire him for that.

Ryan Parrish and Carolyn Grisha from District Eight both look stunning in a three-piece suit and dress made out of beautiful iridescent rainbow fabric. As they make their way down Tribute Avenue, the colors of their outfits change from a vibrant red to a sunny yellow to a deep blue to an intense purple. It's beautiful, and I want a dress made out of it. Certainly a replica of Carolyn's gorgeous dress will be made available to the public. On Carolyn and Ryan's heads, there is a giant spool of thread that also has the color changing quality. It's fitting, because any self-respecting Capitol citizen knows that District Eight manufactures our clothes. It's such common knowledge that Caesar and Claudius don't even bother mentioning it; they just admire the clothes and wonder at the brilliant stylist who designed them.

Ryan is definitely a memorable tribute, with his goofy grin and waving hands. He almost knocks the thread off of Carolyn's head because he's waving so violently. Carolyn, on the other hand, looks thoroughly annoyed with Ryan, and swats his hands away from her. I laugh openly at their interaction, and the rest of the Capitol laughs along with me.

"Well, well, that certainly was something," Caesar chuckles. "Now, Claudius, correct me if I'm wrong, but District Nine is the _grain _district. This means that they grow and harvest the grains that make our breads and pastries. I think I speak for the nation when I say that the Capitol would suffer from severe withdrawal if we didn't have our pastries, don't you agree, Claudius?"

"Oh, yes, definitely."

The District Nine costumes are an absolute nightmare. I didn't see Jonathan Knit or Wysteria Marshon get reaped, so now I know absolutely nothing about them except they both cried, and they have horrible stylists. Both of them are _inside _their own giant stalk of wheat. Actually _inside _it. A hole is cut out for their faces and two more for their arms, but otherwise all I see are two hideous yellow stalks. Not even Caesar can put a positive spin on these costumes, so he and Claudius remain silent, trying their best to look delighted and interested. Neither Jonathan or Wysteria have the sense to wave or smile, so they stand like statues in their chariot.

I find myself hoping they die early on.

District Ten isn't to die for either. It was probably amusing in the earlier Games, but I've seen animal costumes for District Ten no less than seventeen times, and I'm seventeen years old. It makes sense I guess, since District Ten is in charge of livestock, but really?

The boy, Wendel, is sporting the cow costume this year: a full bodysuit and hood that's covered in the black and white spots. Shayna has the sheep costume, which consists of a fluffy white ill-fitting dress with long sleeves and a white hood with the little ears on top. Both of their faces are painted white, and Wendel has a painted black spot covering one eye.

Wendel is staring into space, occasionally letting a smile creep to his lips, but for some reason he seems to be trying to keep a straight face. Shayna, on the other hand, is holding nothing back. Her blue eyes glitter with excitement as she takes in the Capitol's splendor. She drinks in every little detail, right down to the intricate carvings on the rail that separates the people from the Avenue. This is definitely a dream come true for her.

I grin, because it won't last long.

"Oh, look, Claudius, here comes District Eleven! District Eleven is responsible for agriculture, folks, and is the home to many beautiful orchards."

District Eleven is beautiful alright. Penny and Tyler are dressed in the classic dress and suit combination, and both of their outfits are covered in tiny electronic leaves that change colors from a deep green to yellow, orange, and red, probably to reference a change in seasons. They wear crowns made of fake apple slices, to represent the orchards they work in.

Penny seems delighted that everyone is paying attention to her, and she throws kisses and smiles at everyone who catches her eye. Tyler is too dignified to blow kisses, but he stands in the chariot nevertheless, grinning from ear to ear, waving gladly at the people who shout his name.

"Caesar, I think I see District Twelve coming up!" Claudius announces. Caesar takes his attention off of the District Eleven tributes and focuses his eyes on the empty space behind them.

"Indeed, Claudius! I think we can expect that the coal-mining district will blow us out of our shoes! Or perhaps burn...?"

I hope so. District Twelve has ended the Tribute Parade with a bang ever since Cinna, or so my mother says. Fire is the everlasting inspiration, and I've yet to see a pair of District Twelve tributes in miners' outfits.

Dante and Jezza are rolled out of the gate, and although their costumes aren't near as delightful as Cinna's, they are something to be admired. Jezza is wearing a short black dress with black tights, and Dante is in a professional-looking black suit. Both of their faces are obscured by a mask cut into the shape of flames, and painted carefully to resemble fire. Along the neckline of Jezza's dress and the seams of Dante's suit, small flames flicker and glow in the low light, making it look like the two tributes are slowly burning, but the fire can't quite reach their skin.

Jezza won't do anything except an embarrassed smile, and occasionally she'll pat her hair back into place. Not that it was moving to begin with. Dante gives us a small smile, and I'm upset that I can't see his face under the mask. He waves politely, but because of the stupid mask, I can't tell whether or not his heart is in it.

Annoying.

The chariots gather in a semi-circle around the balcony, and I glance over them one last time. Their personalities are obvious, most of their costumes are fantastic, and they all stare up at the balcony expectantly. Knowing that it's not to see me, I shrink back from the edge, taking Donny with me. My father takes our place, striding to the front to address the 24 tributes standing below him.

"Welcome, tributes!" he says. His voice echoes loud and clear down the Avenue, and every voice falls silent. Out of fear or respect, I don't know. "We hope you enjoy your stay at the Capitol," he continues, "and that you train hard. We thank you for your sacrifice in participating in the 100th annual Hunger Games, the 4th Quarter Quell, and wish you all the best of luck. And of course, may the odds be _ever _in _your _favor.

"Let the Games begin!"

**I have to say, there is no one in the world more fun to write than Caesar Flickerman. He's not animated as I would like, but this Caesar is great compared to my other Caesars, so I'm quite pleased. I can't help but wonder how many times he said "Claudius" and "folks." :D**

**Special shout out to Trapped In Narnia, who helped me especially with the District Five costumes. Thank you so much!**

**Anywho, I hope you enjoyed the Tribute Parade! R&R, as always! And here is the alliance list as promised:**

**Careers:**

**Sasha Hoycota**

**Sparkle Tristan**

**Noah James**

**Jax Lucas**

**Ariel Penn**

**Alliance 1:**

**Penny Quinn**

**Shayna Rogers**

**Tyler Wynters**

**Thomas Mcaw**

**Dante Lupin**

**Alliance 2:**

**Ryan Parrish**

**Tea Whythers**

**Keldon Peak**

**Alliance 3:**

**Jezza Time**

**Paisley Braun**

_**Malia Blakely is alone by request.**_

**Keep an eye out for the next chapter!**

_**~IceTigers**_


	7. Training: Day One

**Hey guys! We're done with Marjorie for a while, yay! We've got three tribute POV chapters ahead of us. I haven't really decided on how I want to format tribute chapters yet, so forgive me if this first chapter seems a little awkward.**

**I'm also sorry I was a little late in updating- these take more time, and I'm a slow writer. Not even kidding, I write two sentences, spin around in my chair thinking, write two more, and repeat the process. I take FOREVER. Haha :) **

**I hope you like it, and constructive criticism is always appreciated!**

_Sasha Hoycota_

The first day of training. My pulse is as fast as the speed of sound. Not because I'm nervous, though. Because I feel so, so alive. I wasn't sure if I would score the spot this year; so many guys out there wanted it, this year more than any other. But_ I _got it. It must have been fate. I'm destined to win these Games. And if I train hard in these final three days, no one will be able to stand in my way.

My district partner, Sparkle, stands beside me, waiting for the Training Center doors to open. She's just as determined to win as I am. But she can't win. She _can't. _Not if I'm going to.

"I have two victors in my family, you know," she says suddenly, as if reading my mind.

"So what?" I grumble. She turns to look at me indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest and jutting out her hip.

"_So, _I have better training than you."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Well, how's this, I have _more _training," I counter. "Almost four years more. And I was the top of my class."

"_Was?" _Sparkle laughs. I can feel my blood boiling inside my veins. Once the Career Pack breaks up, I swear, she'll be the first to go.

"Yes, smart one, _was. _Before I came _here." _This shuts her up, because she huffs and leans against the wall, staring at the air in front of her. I don't speak to her again before the rest of the Careers show up.

Jax and Ariel are a force to be reckoned with. They're tough, they're strong, and they're deadly. Noah is, too. And while I don't think Anastasia knows quite what she's gotten into, she can't be underestimated. She is one of us, after all.

We all stand in a kind of awkward circle, staring each other down, sizing each other up, evaluating everything, from Noah's muscles to Jax's chronic smirk to the fire in Ariel's eyes.

We are the Careers. One of us will be the victor.

Actually, no. _I _will be the victor. But it certainly doesn't hurt to have allies like these while they last.

"What's the strategy?" Noah asks, making him the first among us to speak.

"The strategy," I say, "is to make sure that everyone else feels like crap. Make them doubt themselves. No confidence, no competition." No one questions me. We all know I'm in control here.

"How do we do that?" Jax inquires.

"We blow them away with everything. Show off. Make them jealous. Show them who's boss. _We're _the ones with the training. _We're _the ones who know what we're doing. Noah, make sure you show them how strong you are. Prove that you could rip them to pieces. Sparkle, I've seen you throw knives. Jax, Ariel, I have know idea what your strengths are, but I'd better be able to tell by the end of the day. There may be some very good competition in there, you never know, but whatever they do, we have to do _better. _Understand?" Ariel nods, an evil grin on her face. Noah looks intimidating and determined, Jax's eyes are narrowed down to slits, and Sparkle lifts her chin in a subtle show of pride. Anastasia bounces in place, antsy to get started. _Excellent._

The rest of the tributes are finally starting to show.

_Ryan Parrish_

Well, all I have to say is that the Careers seem to be getting acquainted, because they have their noses pressed against each other in a deep, dark, Career conversation. If the stupid escort didn't take my shamrock, I might be able to make it out of here without one of them smashing my face in.

But I hear that fighting before the Games is illegal, so the odds are in my favor today. _Thank you, Evangeline. _

Districts Five and Seven come in behind me and Carolyn. The pair from Seven seem like my type, so I approach them.

"Hiya, folks. We ready to kick Career butt today?"

"You betcha!" the girl, Tea, I think, says, grinning. "We're gonna rock this club!"

"Preach it, sister!" I lift up my hand to give her a high five. Keldon, the dude, just stands there trying not to laugh.

"You're insane, both of you. I mean, look at them." He glances at the Careers, who right now are looking at us like we're some kind of delightful pastry. "Guys, really, they're _trained. _We're gonna have to focus if we plan on coming close to their standards._" _

"Come on, man, live a little!" I punch Keldon's shoulder lightly. "We may not have too long, anyways," I say, only just now realizing the truth of it. If I can't bring my shamrock into the arena, I'm dead. Like a squirrel. Only worse. Yeah...might wanna consider talking to Evangeline, too.

The Training Center doors burst open and a stately looking Capitol woman emerges. The doors slam shut behind her, and she begins in what I consider to be a lengthy and unnecessary speech.

"Welcome, tributes. I sincerely hope you've enjoyed your stay in the Capitol so far, and that you will continue to do so until you enter the arena. My name is Liasyma, you may call me Lia, and I am the Head Trainer. Now, as you probably know, for the next three days you will be given the opportunity to train with your fellow tributes to learn skills that may prove to be very useful in the arena. Definitely try and learn to use a weapon, but don't ignore the survival skills. Many of you will die from dehydration, hunger, or cold. Learn to build a fire, and what plants are edible. You are all at an extreme disadvantage because you have no mentors to help you with strategy and assess your strengths. You may enter now, and train hard. Good luck, and may the odds be _ever _in your favor." Liasyma steps aside, and the door swing open again. The Careers are the first through, striding purposefully to the weapons. The more unsure of us like the little girl from Eleven and the boy from Six.

As if by some unspoken agreement, Tea, Keldon and I all stay together, and head towards the knot-tying station.

"So, what's your story?" Tea asks Keldon. "You seem to be taking this all so seriously."

"I had a brother in the Games, Hayden. Two years ago. He died in the top six."

"I'm sorry," I say. And I mean it.

"Nah," he shrugs it off. Leaning closer to me, he says, "See that pair from Four?" I glance over at Jax and Ariel, who are currently practicing their dark arts at the spear-throwing station. Jax is pretty darn good. I shudder to think of what it would feel like to have one of those deadly weapons of death lodged in my stomach. _Please, Evangeline, please. _

"Yeah, what about 'em?"

"They seem pretty gullible. Wouldn't it be fun to get on their nerves?"

"Ha, funny. Not if they knew it was us," Tea pipes up.

"No, no," Keldon says, shaking his head. "I mean if they _didn't _know it was us." My face lights up.

"I think I have an idea."

_Penny Quinn_

I've come to a conclusion. I suck at archery. Not like a practice makes perfect kind of sucking, no, an all out, not being able to get the stupid arrow to leave the stupid bow kind of sucking.

But weapons aren't what's important, here. Brains are. Anyone can hack someone's head off with a sword, but it takes a certain skill to analyze a situation quickly and accurately. Luckily, it's a skill that I have. And since I seem to be hopeless with weapons, or at least at archery, so far, it's all I've got.

I notice the boy from Twelve eyeing me while he's waiting in line at the knife throwing station, and I get excited. Yes! He's tall and strong, probably fast; maybe he would go to the Cornucopia for me! I need someone to do that. I wouldn't last five seconds in there. But this boy, he might.

Here's hoping he has a soft spot for pathetic little girls.

"Hey, do you know how to do this?" I approach him warily and hold up the bow and arrow. "The trainer just laughed at me and told me what a disgrace I would be to my district." Actually, she said nothing of the sort. She patted me on the shoulder and told me to keep trying while she went to help out another girl. But if this boy thinks I'm being mistreated, maybe he'll help me.

The boy furrows his brow in confusion. "That doesn't sound right," he says.

"No," I sigh. "I guess the odds aren't really in my favor, are they?" I let the sadness of it all sink in, and he sighs and takes the weapons from me.

"Now, I've only ever done this a few times," he says. I nod eagerly and wait for him to continue. "But I've watched other people do it. And I'm pretty sure it's something like this..." He pulls back the arrow, and I take note of the position of his fingers, the way the arrow is fitted into the bow. He lets it go, and the arrow springs forward. It doesn't land anywhere near the target, but I don't think he was aiming.

"Wow," I gush. "That's amazing." The boy laughs and hands me the bow, turning around to grab another arrow from the metal stand.

"It didn't even hit the target."

"No, but you weren't trying. I'll bet you're amazing. Wouldn't want to show those nasty Careers what you're good at, right?" He laughs again.

"Right."

I fit the arrow into the bow and the boy helps me with my position. When he tells me to let it fly, I do, and while I'm still not great, the arrow does leave the bow this time, and sinks into the target's feet.

"I did it! It left the bow!" I exclaim, jumping up and down.

The boy clearly doesn't think it makes any difference, not unless I can pierce the heart, but he smiles anyway and says, "Good job."

"Thanks for helping me," I say, giving him an innocent smile. How can he possibly leave me here? How can he possibly turn around and walk away from a hopelessly helpless little girl? That's the angle I'm going for, and so far, it's working.

"Anytime," he says. "Tell you what, we'll brush up on this today, and tomorrow I can teach you how to throw knives. And maybe you can teach me some plants? I'm guessing you know a lot, being from Eleven." I'm shocked by his observance. I knew he was from Twelve, yeah, but only because my escort made us watch the Reapings at least five times to decide who to go after for allies. Tyler, my district partner, made a few decisions, but I was just lost. How could I tell who I wanted for an ally just by their reaction to a reaping? I need to get inside their heads, play on their sympathies.

"Yeah, I'm good with plants," I reply. "It's a deal." We shake on it. He leaves to grab his own archery set, waving away the trainer when she tries to help him. When he returns, I give him my biggest smile.

"I'm Penny, by the way."

"Dante."

_Jax Lucas_

I look over the rest of the tributes, trying to determine their strengths. Or, more applicable, their weaknesses. The girl from Three seems to have good aim with a spear. It's a good think that mine is better, but Sasha'll want me to improve.

I'd like him to go away.

But I can't think about Sasha right now, and I can plot his demise once we're in the arena. I continue the list in my head. Girl from Three, good aim; girl from Five, well, judging by the way she's beating up that trainer, she's good at...being violent. I think she's mad because he wouldn't let her take a swing at Sasha. The boy from Six is at the edible plant station. Easy target. The girl from Ten knows how to tie a knot. The boy from Eleven can shoot a decent arrow. Where he picked up that skill, I don't know.

And as for my fellow Careers, Sasha can use a sword. I don't even want to know how heavy those things are that Noah throws. Anastasia is running around the stations so fast that I can't tell what her strengths are. Sparkle throws knives, and she never misses. Ariel's great with a trident, which she should be, being from Four.

I am too, actually, so I decide to go give the tridents a try. Besides, there's a shortage of girls in our little Career Pack, so I'm feeling deprived, and Ariel's not the worst looking girl here. I put on my signature smirk and saunter up to her, grabbing a trident on my way.

"Hey, beautiful," I purr. She stops what she's doing to glower at me.

"What did you say?"

"You're pretty good with that thing," I compliment her, gesturing to the trident in her hands. "Mind teaching me?" I step closer so that she's only a breath away. I expect her to back up, but she stands her ground.

"Yes, I do mind, because you should already _know _how to use a trident." She thinks about her words for a second before saying, "Not that I'd teach you anyways."

"Oh, I know, I just thought we could, you know, get to know each other?" I casually slide my free arm around her, and to my surprise, she doesn't shy away. Being irresistible does have it's perks, I'm realizing.

_Ariel Penn_

The moment Jax's arm is securely around my shoulders, a thought crosses my mind. _Zane. _The bastard dumped me right after I volunteered, saying that if I didn't make it back, he didn't want a dead girlfriend. I punched him in the nose then and there, and when the Peacekeepers came to take him away, they didn't ask questions.

If I can play up a romance on camera, I'll be able to make him regret ever breaking up with me. I'll go back home, and he'll be falling at my feet, begging me to take him back. Sweet, sweet revenge. I can already taste it.

So I allow Jax to think I'm falling for his pathetic moves.

"I'm sure you're already great with that trident," I say. "Shall we see how good you are?"

"Alrighty, sweetheart, but just remember, you asked for it." He holds the trident over his right shoulder and aims it and the dummy. He throws it forward, and the middle spike impales the bulls eye. Perfectly.

"See? You're _amazing." _I copy his seductive purr. I fail, too, but he doesn't seem to notice.

We continue this pattern of one of us throwing a spear or trident and the other complimenting, and by the time Liasyma calls us in for lunch, I swear he thinks I'm halfway in love with him.

Just wait until one of my tridents ends up in his back.

_Jezza Time_

Finally, lunch time! I'm _starving. _And the Capitol food is incredible.

I've spent the morning trying and failing to build a fire. I know, I know, it's not the most exciting thing to do, but the lady said not to ignore the survival skills! So, I'm not ignoring the survival skills! And besides, I'm not very talented when it comes to weapons. I'm better at sewing dresses and making myself pretty.

I did make a friend though: Paisley from District Three. Well, _I_ think we're friends. We're probably not, but she needs help socially, and I'm more than willing to help her. I think she's avoiding me, actually, but oh well.

I find Paisley sitting at a table with the girl from District Five, Malia, I think. They're not talking, and they're really not sitting together, I don't think, they're just at the same table.

"Hiya!" I say, sliding into the seat between them. "How's it going?"

"Jezza, please go away," Paisley begs.

"Why? I thought we were friends! You know, I was thinking maybe we could have one of those _alliances." _

"No!" Paisley says quickly. "I don't know what goes through your pretty little head, and I really don't want to find out, but get this in it: we are not friends."

"Oh." It hurts, but I know she'll come around. With no mentors, every one of us needs all the help we can get. The silence hangs in the air too long, so I turn to Malia.

"Would you like some help with your hair?" I ask. "I could make it look _super _pretty!"

"Go away."

"Please?"

"Go away."

"_Please?" _

"Oh. My. Gosh. Go away." I can tell by the tone in her voice that she's dead serious, but I'm relentless.

"Come on, Mally!" I've crossed a line. Malia jumps up and puts both of her hands on my shoulders.

"Don't talk to me. I have no interest in talking to spoiled brats like you," she snaps. Her hands are shaking, and I can tell she's trying hard not to break me in half. No fighting until we're in the arena, after all.

"Fine, fine, just leave me alone, then," I manage, trying to sound calm.

"Gladly." Malia picks up her tray and moves to a vacant table on the other side of the room. She really does hate me. _Really _hates me. I saw it in her eyes. No matter, I have two and a half more days to make her realize how perfectly wonderful I am. For now, I'll work on Paisley.

"So, Paisley, do you have a boyfriend?"

**Wow. I didn't realize how hard it would be to write angry Malia and snippy Paisley from Jezza's POV, lol :)**

**Every character was mentioned in this chapter, but not all of them were really in it, so if your tribute wasn't, I'm sorry, and they will be in the next chapter. These are going to take me a lot longer to write- I think my days of daily updating are over. **

**Anyways, I hope you liked it, and that I did your characters justice! R&R!**

**~IceTigers**


	8. Training: Day Two

**Aloha! Hope you guys liked that last chapter, I certainly enjoyed writing it :) Here's the 2nd day of training!**

**Enjoy!**

_Sasha _

I think yesterday went well. We were excellent. Ariel and Jax both show promise with spears and tridents. Now every other tribute is scared out of their wits, and we can congratulate ourselves on a job well done.

While Sparkle and I are still first today, the rest of the Careers show up right behind us, eagerly awaiting the next move.

The only problem is, I don't know what the next move should be. That plan I came up with yesterday was very spur of the moment, and although I hid it well, now I'm expected to have another.

It's a good thing Noah speaks up.

"Today I think we learn something new."

"What?" I stare at him. "How is that going to make them scared of us?" Actually, it seems like a good idea, but I have to stay in control.

"I think that's smart," Ariel speaks up. "Jax and I can learn some snares, maybe Sparkle can learn to build fires. Sasha, what if you and Noah learned some of the edible plants? Anastasia should...do whatever you do. Skip around."

"You're an idiot," I snap. "We don't need to learn any survival skills, we'll have all the supplies!"

"Oh yeah? What about the 74th Games when Katniss blew up the Careers' stuff?" Noah barks, his temper rising quickly. "Or the 75th, when all they had was weapons? We _know_ how to use weapons, let's learn how to survive!"

"Yeah, Sasha, that actually seems like the best option," Sparkle joins in. Jax stays silent. I don't think he really cares. But I've already lost, so it wouldn't matter if Jax spoke up or not.

"Fine. Noah and I can learn about the plants." I shudder to think of the idiot kids we'll encounter in that station. That's where all the losers go. But maybe not today; we'll be there.

Noah looks none to happy being paired up with me, but I don't care. I don't like him either. None of us like each other. We can't afford that. Only one of us can live, and it's going to be me.

Liasyma doesn't bother to give another speech today, but as soon as all the tributes have arrived, she opens up the doors, allowing us inside. Noah and I head over to the plant station right away, and I doubt anyone else will come until we leave.

The trainer goes on a rant describing berries, and he doesn't seem to realize that I'm not paying attention. Noah's bothering me, with his stern, concentrated expression. Are plants really that interesting? I politely ask the trainer to shut up and tell him we'll go quiz each other before he tests us. He grins, thinking that he's done a fantastic job, and I pull Noah aside.

"What's your problem, dude?"

"_My _problem?"

"Yeah. What was all that crap about this morning? You and I both know they had survival classes at the Academy."

"I just think it's a good idea. If by some chance we do get raided, we'll need to know how to keep going. I need to go home."

"And why's that?"

"As if you care."

"You're right, I don't care. Because you're not going home."

"And what's your logic behind that, Sasha?"

"_I'm_ going home. I'm the one who deserves it, don't you think?"

"No. As a matter of fact, I think you deserve to be the first to die," Noah says without hesitation. I almost throw a punch right at his nose, but don't. He'll get all that and more in the arena.

When the Career Pack has to end, Noah will go right after Sparkle. And when they and three others lie at my feet, I'll finally be crowned victor.

_Ryan_

Our plan to humiliate the District Four tributes is coming along quite nicely, and meanwhile, I'm learning how to throw a knife. It's very precise work. You have to hold your fingers just right, flick your wrist just right, aim just right...complicated stuff. But I'm not doing so bad, because I stole my shamrock back from the escort. It's wilted, and I'll have to find a new one before long, but for now, a shamrock is a shamrock.

Keldon says he's pretty beast with a club, but he's not going to do anything with the metal one in here until the Private Gamemaker Sessions. Tea says she can use an axe, which makes sense, being from the lumber district. As for me, I'm fast, and that's about it. Right now they're both standing beside me, learning the complicated skill of tossing sharp objects with me.

We're all failing, but that's alright.

"You know, I really think this could be fun!" Tea is saying. "I mean, if we knew how to do it."

"Yeah, and if the knives weren't, you know, sharp," Keldon offers, a smile growing on his lips.

"Well, I think we're pretty skilled," I say, throwing a knife at the dummy. I've gotten better, because it lodges itself in the dummy's hand, instead of piercing the floor. "See?"

"Good job, Ryan," Keldon congratulates me. "That's a really lethal move you've got there."

Tea laughs, and I take a bow. "Thank you, good sir."

"So how about this party, Ryan?" Tea asks. "And how does it tie in with you and Keldon's District Four prank?"

"Well, I figure we could all use a little fun in our final days, so I think we should just invite all the tributes, right? And then my escort showed me this funny drink that they have that makes you vomit so you can keep eating, and-"

"You're gonna give that to Jax and Ariel?" Keldon laughs. "Genius. But make sure to just put it somewhere they're sure to get it, don't hand it to them. Then they'll know it was you and you'll be a target."

"Wow, you guys," Tea says, laughing. "That's really something."

"That's the idea, Tea. So what do you think?" I ask them. After receiving two enthusiastic thumbs up, I grin.

Liasyma calls us to lunch.

_Penny_

I've really learned a lot since becoming allies with Dante. He seems bent on protecting me, and that's exactly what I need. He's also really into getting to know everyone else, so I've met a lot more people, and they all have different skills. Like Thomas, the boy from Six. He's not great with weapons, but he's smart, like me. And he knows a lot of survival techniques. Dante thinks we should get him to join our alliance.

I've also met Shayna, the girl from Ten. She's told us she's lived in a barn all her life, literally, so she'll know about animals, and how to keep us all from getting some weird meat poisoning I've heard about. She's also good with snares, so we'll be able to eat something other than roots and berries in the arena.

The third person to join Dante and I is Tyler, my district partner. Apparently he was eyeing Shayna and Dante as potential allies, and he's really good at archery, so he's been helping me. None of my shots have been lethal yet, but there's still one and a half days to go.

Shayna and Tyler have really hit it off. Tyler despises the Games with every part of his being, and though I think Shayna does too, she won't stop going on and on about how gorgeous the Capitol is, and Tyler's a good listener. Dante and I sat with Thomas yesterday to strategize and try to pull him into our group, but Shayna and Tyler were right next to us, and I now know that Shayna's dream is to become a famous fashion designer in the Capitol. I'd rather be a spy for the districts, personally, but if the city life attracts her, who am I to judge?

"Hi, guys," I say as I approach our table. "I think I'm getting better at archery!"

"You just have to focus your eye on the target more, really will the arrow to hit it," Tyler says, smiling, "and then you'll have it."

"Great. Thanks." I sit in between Thomas and Dante. "So what are we gonna do when we get back in?"

"I'm gonna show Tyler some snares, just in case something happens to me and y'all need food," Shayna says.

"I think I'll try my hand at knives, you know, just to have a weapon in reserve," Thomas says in a small voice, not making eye contact.

"Pen, you said you'd teach me some plants," Dante reminds me. "Should we do that next?"

"Sure. That sounds great, you guys." I pause to think about my next move. I really need to figure out who's going to the Cornucopia, but to say anything before our alliance is strong might not be the best idea. But then again, if we wait until the alliance is set in stone, people might be expecting someone else to go, and they'll already have decided that it won't be them. I know it _can't _be me. I think the best thing to do right now would be to go ahead and mention it, just to get an idea. But just lightly, as a topic of conversation, so I don't raise the suspicion that I don't want to go in myself.

_Here goes nothing. _

"Hey, so you any of you guys plan on going to the Cornucopia?" I ask, keeping my tone friendly.

"I am," Tyler says immediately. "I need a bow."

"I'm not. I think I'll just grab a few things around the edge, like a backpack or something, and then go," Thomas offers.

"I just need some rope," Shayna says.

"I'll go, I think. I have a pretty good chance of making it out of there; I'm good hand to hand, and we're gonna need the supplies, since we're so big," Dante says. I struggle to keep my smile hidden. Dante is looking like a better ally every minute. Somehow I knew he would volunteer. I think he likes me more than he lets on.

_Jax_

Sasha has no idea what he's doing. But Noah does, and so does Ariel. Sparkle thinks she's all that and a bag of chips, and what's really sad is that she is. Anastasia's just happy to be here, and quite frankly, I don't understand that.

It's finally dawning on me that my death is very probable. Why did I never realize that before? How could I have been so stupid? Was I like Sasha, only attracted to the glory, or like Ariel, who wanted to prove herself? I'm not like Noah- he just wants to help out his little brother, I've heard, and Sparkle was forced into this. She seems okay with it, though.

Yes, I realize, I am like Ariel. Maybe a little bit of Sparkle too, indirectly. Nothing I ever did at home was good enough for my father, and I wanted to show him I could be something special.

But one thing's for sure: the Games are changing me already.

The only thing that's keeping me partially sane and reminds me of myself is my fake relationship with Ariel. I don't have any idea what she's thinking, but it must be somewhere along the lines of _I'm gonna die, so I might as well enjoy this guy while I've got him, _judging by the way she's been acting.

Noah and Sasha were fighting all morning, and the Peacekeepers almost had to go break them up. Noah has a hot temper, and Sasha has to be in control. I've decided to let him, for the time being, but before long, I'm inclined to think that Noah'll find a way to take his place. He's an odd guy, Noah. Quiet, intimidating, but there's something under that stern persona, and I wonder if anyone's ever seen it.

"Whatcha thinking, Jax?" Ariel asks, leaning against me.

"I'm thinking we need to watch out for Noah. I wouldn't be surprised if he's the first to turn," I answer.

"_We?" _Ariel raises her eyebrows, her dark green eyes twinkling.

"Yes, _we." _I slide my arm around her and ignore the stares from the other tributes. The girl from Five stares us down, contempt in her eyes. The girl from Twelve sighs and puts her hand over her heart, and the blond next to her rolls her eyes in exasperation. Those psychos known as Ryan, Tea, and Keldon are laughing hysterically, although I can't tell if it's at us, and the other alliance just looks confused, although the girl from Ten and the boy from Eleven are exchanging sad smiles. Oh, yes, we're so pitiful, aren't we? Katniss and Peeta all over again, the fake star-crossed lovers from District Four. Rumor has it Peeta never has gotten over Katniss dying for him in the 3rd Quell, but I've never met the guy, so I wouldn't know.

I'll be ditching Ariel the moment the gong sounds, and somehow, I don't think she'll mind one bit.

_Ariel_

I wonder why Jax said we should watch out for Noah. He doesn't seem any worse than Sasha and Sparkle; maybe just a tad smarter. But together, we could outsmart him any day.

Huh. Together. I wonder why I thought of that.

I don't like Jax, I really don't, but he does have that certain charm. Girls back home used to talk about him all the time- how he was in love with them one minute and hated them the next. I'm not going to be one of those girls. I'm better than that. But maybe I can give him a taste of his own medicine, all the while getting revenge on Zane. The thought of him distraught in front of the television screen brings a smile to my lips.

"Thinking about how wonderful I am, darling?" Jax asks, tightening his grip around my shoulders. It takes all my self-control not to squirm out.

"No, _darling, _I'm thinking about how positively horrendous your hair looks today," I retort. Jax's hand flies to his copper hair, and I can't help but laugh at his vanity. "Idiot," I mumble under my breath.

I've just finished eating when Liasyma calls us back in for the second half of the day. Jax and I head straight to the rubber track in the back of the Center. The trainer asks us if we want to race, and I respond with an enthusiastic yes. I'm not the best runner, and I know Jax'll win, but I really don't care. I want to run. Jax looks at me quizzically, but doesn't question my motives.

Just when the trainer is about to blow her whistle, several more tributes show up.

"Are you guys racing? Can I join?" the boy from Seven asks. The boy from Eight is standing next to him, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. Before I know it, we've also got the boy from Eleven, the girl from Ten eagerly cheering him on, Sparkle, Noah, and the girl from Three, Paisley, I think.

I am not winning this race. But backing out now would be a sign of cowardice. I can't afford to be viewed as a coward.

On the other hand, I can't afford to come in last, and these people wouldn't have showed up to race against the Careers unless they were fast. My only hope is that I'm either faster than I think I am, or that Jax sucks even more than I do, because by now, all the tributes have left their stations to watch their new friends and allies race.

The trainer arranges us in a complex line that I'm in the back of, on the outside lane. She tells us to stay in our lane, and that although it doesn't look it, the distance is exactly equal. I don't believe her, I think she's setting me up, but I'm not about to argue in front of everyone.

The trainer blows the whistle, and I take off.

_Jezza_

"Go Paisley! Goooo Paisley!" I cheer my best tribute friend on. She's fast, too, way ahead of all the rest. The District Four tributes are maintaining their dignity, but they're not the fastest. Paisley is, my future ally. The rest of them are fast too. The girl from Ten, Shayna, is cheering for the boy from Eleven, and I automatically know they're going to end up in a tragic relationship too, just like Four. So sad. So, so, so tragic.

While the race is still going on, I prance over to Malia and absentmindedly finger with her hair. She ignores me, fuming. I can practically see the steam coming out of her ears, but she stays silent.

Suddenly, I hear the whistle blow again as Paisley crosses the finish line first.

"Yay! Yay Paisley!" I scream, leaving a boiling Malia behind to congratulate my friend. Paisley looks very pleased with herself, and she should be. Not many people can outrun the Careers. Speaking of the Careers, Sparkle and Noah look pretty upset, but Ariel and Jax just give each other an amorous hug, working through their shame. I have to giggle at them- they clearly weren't expecting more competition.

"Paisley, you were magnificent!" I shout, pulling her aside. "Absolutely _manifique!"_

"Thank you, Jezza," Paisley says, grinning. "Now please go away now." The rest of the tributes have gone back to what they were doing, and Paisley looks about ready to do the same, but I stop her.

"I could really use an ally like you, you know. And I'll bet you need me, too."

"Really? And why would I need you, Jezza?" I hold up a knife that I've been holding in my back pocket.

"I'm pretty killer with these things." And it's true, I have gotten better.

"I have good aim too, you know."

"I'll betcha mine is better," I taunt, waving the knife in her face. Paisley raises her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Really? It's on, blondie." She stomps over to the target dummies and grabs a spear. "You game?"

"Sure thing," I reply confidently. "But just remember, you're blond too." Paisley actually smiles.

But I don't have an ally yet.

**Love it? Hate it? Give me your thoughts & suggestions in a review!**

**Also, just a note, I'm becoming more familiar with your characters and how I plan on writing them, so if you've seen something so far you don't like, for example, if your character is too happy, too depressed, too quiet, too talkative, whatever, now would be a really good time to tell me before I get too used to writing them.**

**And I know there are some tributes who still haven't gotten a whole lot of attention, but don't worry about that. I'm trying to be fair while still keeping the plot going :) In case you didn't notice, this chapter was mostly establishing tributes' strengths and weaknesses. **

**Look out for the next chapter!**

_**~IceTigers**_


	9. Training: Day Three

**You guys are awesome. Seriously. I can't possibly tell you guys how much your reviews make me smile; it would be like trying to tell you how much I love Peeta or how much I hate Gale :) Impossible, right? That was a rhetorical question. **

**ANYWAYS, this is the last day of training! I don't really know the schedule that well, and I'm too lazy to look it up, so here's mine: three days of training, Gamemaker sessions the next day, scores announced that night, then a day off to learn interview strategies, and then interviews narrated by Marjorie. Since we have no mentors to coach our delightful tributes, the day off will be filled with random tribute socialization alliance confirming and Ryan, Tea, and Keldon's party, which, I'm told, Shayna is very excited for ;)**

**Training scores will be determined by your tributes strengths & weaknesses, and will be at the end of this chapter. If your tribute has talent with weapons, like Sasha, expect a higher score. If they're better at being smart and know their survival skills, like Penny, expect a lower one. Careers get especially high scores. Training scores aren't really even important, since there are no sponsors, and they don't affect my plot in any way, so don't worry about it. I wouldn't even put it in there if I wasn't expected to :)**

**Enjoy!**

_Sasha_

Only one more day. One more day to show Noah who's the boss, to get Jax and Ariel straightened out, to hopefully kick Anastasia out of the Pack, to make sure Sparkle knows what she's doing. But Ariel's told me that I have to make sure that Noah doesn't leave the Pack, because apparently, we need the guy.

So, in an attempt to keep him involved in group decisions, I ask him what he thinks of the Pack. He's quiet for a moment, lost in his thoughts, and then he speaks, and I have to struggle not to kill him right here and now.

"I think you're arrogant, Sasha, and I think that's going to get you into trouble. You're dumb, and you have no chance of winning whatsoever." I stay my hand, even though I'm fuming. Strategy never _has _been my strong point, but I know that whatever I do, I can't kill him yet. He's been upgraded to the top of my kill list, though.

"I think Jax is an idiot, too. Ariel just needs to put her brain into use, and then she _might _have a shot. Anastasia doesn't know what she's doing; she's here for kicks. Sparkle's brave, but she's arrogant, like you," Noah concludes. "So basically, my biggest problem is you."

"Trust me, the feeling is mutual," I growl, my hands balled up into fists.

"Hey, Sasha, let's go on in." Sparkle grabs my arm and drags me into the Center. Judging by her condescending tone, she thinks she's preventing a fight, but I don't respond. She drags me over to the swords for sanity, and I begin hacking away at the trainer. Nothing like violence therapy.

How dare he?

_I'm _the leader. Not him. So how can he possibly insult me like that? Is he _trying _to get himself killed?

He's well on his way.

_Ryan_

"When do we make the announcement?" Keldon asks me. "Now? Or at lunch?"

"At lunch," Tea decides. "People will just get mad if we interrupt their training."

"Thank you, Ryan," Keldon jabs. His comment wasn't meant to be hurtful, and Tea isn't offended at all.

"You're welcome!" she pipes.

"Okay, so let's go over the plan," I say, finishing up my lame attempt to camouflage my hand. If there's a huge patch of shamrocks, I could do that. Anything else…only Evangeline could help me. "We have the party start at 6 o'clock on the roof, we get Avoxes to decorate, get music, and bring some refreshments. We make sure to ask for those drinks Tea mentioned. The colorful ones. We dance and act like crazy people for two hours, then we set the other drinks somewhere Ariel and Jax will be sure to find them. They drink, thinking it's another one of those colorful drink things, you said we could get pink, right Keldon? Then, chaos ensues." I grin wickedly. "My friends, I think we are geniuses."

"I think you're right," Tea agrees, giving me a high five. Keldon grins.

I smear the paint off of one hand and then begin to absentmindedly paint shamrocks on my face. The paint is gross and sticky, but my escort took my shamrock again after I made the rather thoughtless decision of flaunting it around in her presence, and I figure that even fake shamrocks are better than no shamrock at all. Keldon and Tea laugh openly at my artistic expertise, and I proceed to paint another shamrock on Keldon's hand. He smears it off right after I finish, staining his hand green.

All too soon, Liasyma calls us to lunch.

"Ready to rock?" Tea asks Keldon and me. We nod, determined, excited.

We're the last group to enter the cafeteria. The Careers are already in their rather menacing group, and the large alliance containing Shayna, Tyler, Dante, Penny, and Thomas is having what appears to be a strategic conversation. Jezza is sitting between the girls I know to be Malia and Paisley, sighing repeatedly and playing with a tortured Malia's hair.

Malia. Something about that girl isn't right. She scares me. And not much usually registers with me.

After my quick surveillance of the tributes, Keldon, Tea, and I stand in the middle of the room in a line. Tea speaks first.

"Hey guys!" she shouts. "We have an announcement!"

"Oh, goody," I hear from somewhere in the Career section. Tea ignores the voice and continues.

"Us, Ryan, Keldon, and me, we're throwing a party!" No reaction.

"It's going to be on our day off, you know, the day that mentors would usually coach us about interviews," Keldon says. Still no reaction.

"It's at six, on the rooftop," I say. "Guys, seriously, it's gonna be epic. We have it all planned out, the food, the music, all of it. I mean, really, 99% of us are gonna be dead in three weeks, why not have a little fun while we can?" There we go. Some of the tributes are nodding, looking around at their friends, smiling. Ah yes, the "we're all gonna die" speech works every time.

"Good job, guys, I think we got 'em," Keldon whispers. The attention has turned away from us and back to the food and the strategies, but that's fine. We've done our job.

We're gonna party all night.

_Penny_

The party's a hit in our group. Especially with Shayna, which is surprising, since I had perceived her as a more, um, calm person.

"I just cannot wait for the party! Do you think they'll have cake and those colorful drinks that all feel different as you drink them? I just_ love_ those! I tried some on the train and I SWEAR to GOD, the blue one froze in my mouth a little- DO NOT DRINK THE FIREWATER! Made that mistake, thought it was modeled after the Girl on Fire and it'd taste like cinnamon or something, but it seriously hurt, like, it _burned!_ And-"

"Shay, calm down, we get it!" Tyler laughs.

"Sorry," Shayna giggles, color rising to her cheeks. "We never really had any parties in District Ten." We laugh along with her, and it's nice to lighten up the mood, because before Keldon and Tea and Ryan came in, we'd been discussing signals and what to do if one of us gets lost. We'd been debating on whether or not, if that happens, to go look for the person, or if our philosophy will be the whole "anyone who falls behind stays behind kind of thing."

"What do you think, Thomas, are you going?" Tyler asks. Thomas shrugs and takes a small sip of his drink.

"I'll probably just have some cake," he says quietly.

"Awesome. And the rest of y'all are going?" Shayna asks us. We all nod. "Yay!"

Lunch passes by much too quickly for my taste, and before I know it, Dante is brushing up on his archery, Tyler's teaching Shayna how to shoot, and Thomas is working on his hammer skills. I'm over in the edible plant station, my virtual home.

I don't trust anyone yet, but so far, the alliance is coming along quite well. We've got Dante and Tyler on the Cornucopia, I'm running, and Shayna and Tyler both said they'd pick up a few things.

Before long, Dante comes to join me.

"Hey," I say quietly, examining a leaf.

"Hey. Can you quiz me real quick? Maybe then we can finish up your archery."

"Great," I agree. "Edible or no?" I hold a vibrant, probably genetically engineered leaf out to him. He takes it from me and inspects it carefully.

"No."

"Why?"

"It's poisonous," he says, grinning. Of course it's poisonous. If it wasn't, you'd be able to eat it.

"How 'bout this one?"

"Yes, you can eat that."

"Good. How's shooting going?" I lean over to get another plant from the display.

"Good. I'm really improving, I think. So, that archery trainer," Dante says. "She doesn't seem too bad." I freeze. He's on to me. _Play it cool, play it cool._

"Oh, really? She was pretty nasty to me. Edible or no?" I hold up another plant.

"Edible. Anyways, so I asked her what tips she'd given you on the first day, and she said that by the time she was getting ready to come over to you, I was already helping you out. Capitol people, huh? " _I'm done for._ He knows. He knows I tricked him into helping me. I guess the only thing I can do now is apologize and act desperate and it won't even be acting. Maybe he'll take pity on me again. But he never really did in the first place, did he?

"I'm sorry!" I moan. "I was just so scared, and I needed an ally, and you were already watching me, and you seemed like a good choice, and…I'm sorry!" I'm near tears now. I don't know why losing this boy's trust has made me feel so alone, but it must be because now I know that I'm going to die without his help. I hadn't entertained the thought of dying before now, and it seems more real than ever. "I'm sorry," I whimper.

"Hey, hey it's okay," Dante says, getting up to sit next to me, horrified by my reaction. "I understand. Any other little kid would've done the same thing."

"How do you know that?" I sniffle.

"I've grown up taking care of little kids. My little sisters. That's how I knew what you were doing."

"But you hate me now. I lied."

"No. I still want to help you. But I need you to be honest with me, okay? We need to be able to trust each other."

I won't trust him for a long time, and I know he won't trust me any time soon. But I guess being honest is a good place to start. "Okay," I agree, drying my eyes on my sleeve. "I guess you know I cornered you into getting our supplies, too."

"Yeah, I do. But Tyler and me, we can watch each other's backs." I look up into Dante's brown eyes and smile. Even though both of us will probably die, he's almost like the brother I never had.

"Thank you."

_Jax_

"Hi," I say, passing Ariel at the camouflage station. She's painting swirling blue stripes all over her arm; the ocean. "Homesick?" Her head snaps up and she quickly covers up her arm.

"No," she barks defensively.

"Hey, it's alright. Me too."

"I told you, I'm _not _homesick. Go away."

"No. I don't know anything about you, and this seems like a perfect opportunity to learn."

"What do you care? I know you; you're the guy all those girls back at home talk about. I know you'll break up with me in a couple days." Huh. Girls talk about me at home. That's nice. But Ariel's comment distracts me from that pleasant thought. I thought she liked me. At least a little. And to be honest, I was starting to like her too. Or, respect her, at least. I'm not giving her the satisfaction of knowing that I'm offended, though. She knows I'm going to break up with her, then fine. Might as well happen now as opposed to later.

"You're right," I sigh. "I don't care. I'm with you because I enjoy breaking hearts. You don't really have one to break though, do you? Shame, it could've been fun." The fire in Ariel's eyes flashes, white and hot.

"Well, _I'm _only with _you _because right after I volunteered, my stupid boyfriend broke up with me! He said, and I quote, 'I don't want a dead girlfriend.' I wanted to make him jealous! So there's _my _reason. And yes, I am homesick. Everyone is, except Sasha! Happy?"

"Very," I smirk. "Now that we've cleared the air, I have a proposal."

"Oh, do you now?" she snaps, smearing a blob of blue paint on her arm.

"Yeah." I pause and think before continuing, but it seems like a good idea, I think. I just hope she thinks so too. "I need to make the Capitol girls jealous so they'll love me even more, and we all know they love me already," I explain, "and you need to make your ex jealous on the screen for your revenge. I say we play this thing for all it's worth. I'll be in love with you, you'll be in love with me, and we're both satisfied." The fire disappears and is replaced by a somewhat evil, mischievous, and delighted twinkle.

"Deal," she agrees. "As long as we know it's fake."

"Of course." I bend in a courteous bow. Upon straightening back up, I lean into her ear. "So when do we kiss?"

_Ariel_

I pull away and slap him. He jumps back and holds his hand to his reddened cheek, shocked and angry.

"Save it for the cameras," I hiss. I dump a bottle of paint remover on my arm and wipe away my precious ocean. Jax was wrong. I don't regret volunteering one bit. I'm glad I did. If I didn't, I'd still be with Zane, that infinitely stupid male creature. So I'm glad I volunteered. Very, very, very glad.

I stomp away from Jax to let him know I mostly hate him, and meet Sparkle over at the knife station. She's kicking butt, as usual. Hardly anyone even comes over here anymore because they know she'll embarrass them. Even I won't throw a knife in her presence, so I grab a trident instead, piercing the dummy's heart effortlessly.

"Nice," she comments, twirling a knife in her fingers. She flicks it gently, and it flies to the center of the dummy's chest, perfect.

"Not bad yourself," I reply.

"Wanna take a break?" she asks. I nod, and we walk over to the wall, leaning against the padding.

"What's up?"

"Oh, nothing really. I was just thinking, I mean it hasn't crossed my mind since the Reaping, but we have friends in that other arena." Oh. Right. To be perfectly honest, I haven't thought about them since the Reaping either.

"Okay?" I encourage her to keep talking.

"And, well, I feel kinda bad, 'cause my friend, Jasmine, she didn't want to be in the Games until she was seventeen."

"So?"

"So I feel bad!"

"That's why you don't volunteer until you're older. They took my friend Hanna, but she's ready." Sparkle steps forward and lowers her voice.

"What do you think about the others? Their friends? I haven't heard a thing about them, but you'd think they'd remember, wouldn't you?"

"Of course they remember," I say, waving my hand dismissively. "But they're probably feeling guilty like you. If they didn't get reaped, their friends wouldn't be going into the other arena. If I were them, I'd be feeling pretty bad too. It sucks to be responsible for your best friend's death. I don't think any of us want that." Sparkle narrows her eyes at me.

"Are you implying that I'm responsible for Jasmine's death?" she sneers.

"No. I'm just saying that I talked it over with my friends before I volunteered, they were all ready, and maybe you should've done the same. That's really all I have to say on the subject, Sparkle, I'm sorry." Actually, I didn't talk it over with Hanna and Lilly. I don't need permission to risk my life, do I? They're both talented, and Hanna got picked, and now she has to win. We did talk about it on the train ride here, and she's fine. It's her last year to be in the Games anyways.

Sparkle walks away angrily and throws another knife. It lands right on target. Again.

I'd really hate to be the dummy.

_Jezza_

So, Paisley has better aim than me. It's official. But I'm getting better! I will beat her at some point! Besides, I _totally _let her win on purpose…totally. You know, if the definition of totally is not at all.

Sparkle moves from the knife station to the archery, and I grab Paisley and drag her over, picking up a knife and aiming it at the dummy.

"Paisley!" I call. "Is this how you hold it?" Reluctantly, and with a scowl plastered over her face, Paisley looks at the knife in my hand.

"No, Jezza," she says, irritated. She leans over and repositions my fingers into some awkward position. I look at the target and back to my hand in dismay. How can I throw with my fingers like this? I can barely hold the frickin' knife! What am I, some kind of superhuman? No, I'm not.

"What is this?" I ask her, exasperated.

"That's the position you need to throw correctly, which is, I believe, what you asked for," Paisley snips.

"Oh. Are you sure?"

"Positive." Not believing her, I aim the knife at the target as best I can and fling the knife. Well, then. It's a little off, but it's one of my better throws so far.

"Hey, thanks," I tell her.

"Whatever. Just don't ask me to show you again."

"Alrighty!" I'm tired of knife throwing after about five minutes, so I seek out Malia, who's at the fire-building station.

"Jezza, go away," she says before I can even open my mouth.

"Hi, Malia!" I say in a singsong voice. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing, Jezza," she says, looking up and giving me a poisoned smile. "But if you don't mind, I'd like you to kindly leave me alone."

"Oh, silly Malia," I chide, sitting down beside her and grabbing some twigs. "So what do you do, rub these things together?"

"Why don't you ask the trainer?" she suggests, her voice cold and unfeeling.

"Alrighty! Mr. Trainer, what do you do with this?" Mr. Trainer goes on to explain the exact science of making a fire, and I get bored again. Before he can finish, I say thank you and rejoin Paisley. I'm thinking I need to talk to her again about that alliance. Otherwise, I'll be on my own, and that is _not _a good thing. I need someone to talk to or I will go _crazy. _

"Paisley! I'm back!" Paisley rolls her eyes, and I think she's glad to see me. But just to confirm, I ask, "Did you miss me?"

"Oh, yes, Jezza, I was completely lost without your ever important figure beside me," she says, sarcasm shining through. I ignore it.

"I knew it! Anyways, are we going to that party? You know, that those happy people are having?"

"I don't know."

"Fine. I'll decide for you." I stroke my chin in mock thoughtfulness. "You're going. Maybe we can find a nice boyfriend for you!"

"Jezza, we're all going to _die. _What am I going to do with some stupid _boyfriend?" _

"Well I don't know," I huff, crossing my arms over my chest. "Maybe he could serenade you. When you die."

"That's lovely, thank you."

"You're welcome!" I'm bored again, but that's okay, because Liasyma has stepped in, informing us that the day is over. Well, I guess I get to show of my killer knife-throwing to the Gamemakers tomorrow. And then, the next day, PARTY!

**Hope you guys liked it! Here are the tributes' training scores:**

**D1:**

**Sasha Hoycota- 10**

**Sparkle Tristan- 10**

**D2:**

**Noah James- 9**

**Anastasia Rein- 8**

**D3:**

**Zephyr Bryant- 4**

**Paisley Braun- 7**

**D4:**

**Jax Lucas- 10**

**Ariel Penn- 8**

**D5:**

**Conan Ledger- 5**

**Malia Blakely- 6**

**D6:**

**Thomas Mcaw- 4**

**Isabella Vay- 6**

**D7:**

**Keldon Peak- 7**

**Tea Whythers- 8**

**D8: **

**Ryan Parrish- 6**

**Carolyn Grisha- 3**

**D9:**

**Jonathan Knit- 8**

**Wysteria Marshon- 2**

**D10:**

**Wendel Hasby- 6**

**Shayna Rogers- 6**

**D11:**

**Tyler Wynters- 8**

**Penny Quinn- 5**

**D12:**

**Dante Lupin- 9**

**Jezza Time- 4**

**R&R, and keep a lookout for the next chapter! We're having a party!**

_**~IceTigers**_


	10. Roof Party: Of Drinks and Dresses

**So it turns out I broke the review button (I know, I'm pretty darn skilled to be able to pull that off) by deleting an old chapter that I didn't need. It just had my tributes' bios in it…but it should be working now! Yay!**

**Mixing up the format today! No Sasha! Yeah…he's too cool for parties. And this chapter is mostly about the party, and the reality of the Games and their friends probably dying is finally dawning on them.**

**We're going straight to Ryan! And he's in a happy mood, because he's discovered that you can steal shamrocks from the edible plant station of the Training Center, and he has a nice supply now. **

**Enjoy! **

_Ryan_

The Avoxes don't seem to appreciate us having a party and ordering lots of stuff. I don't know if it's because they just don't want extra work, or if they think it's going to get them in trouble. I don't really know how you could justify punishing the servant though; that just doesn't make sense.

I offered them shamrocks for good luck since I have a lot now, but they said no. Well, technically, they didn't say no, since they don't talk, they just shook their heads and waited for Tea's next enthusiastic request.

"Oooh, guys, this is looking amazing!" Tea squeals, admiring the glowing streamers, the silk tablecloths, and the pastel-colored food. Keldon, however, is having second thoughts.

"I don't know about this, Ryan. Are you sure we're not gonna get in trouble?"

"What else could they possibly do to us, Keldon?" I laugh. "There's nothing to worry about."

"What about our friends? The ones in the other arena? What about them? We haven't seen them, we haven't heard anything about them; how do we know they're not already in the arena? What if the Gamemakers take it out on them?"

Well, I must admit, I hadn't thought about that. I actually haven't thought about our friends much at all. Dad always used to tell me that joking around and acting like an idiot was a way of coping, and I guess that's what I've been doing. Jaylon Thomas, that's who is going into another arena because of me. My best friend since I was three. He's not strong or tough; he's going to die.

"Who's your friend, Keldon?" Tea asks gently, stepping up behind him and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"His name is Timon. But if they hadn't been short on guys, it would've been someone else." Tea nods in realization and backs away from Keldon, mouthing the word "girl" at me.

"My best friend from grade school is going in there," I say, staring at my feet. "I didn't even get to give him a shamrock; they just came in during goodbyes and tore him away." I've been ignoring the memory, blocking it out by thoughts of humiliating Careers and throwing parties, but I know that I leave here without a coffin, it will haunt me forever.

I haven't heard any other tributes talk about their friends, so I know they're thinking the same thing.

"My bestie, Renee. I think you know her, Keldon, she had a crush on you for the longest time, before she found out you were younger than her, that is," Tea says, a smile playing on the corner of her mouth at the memory. "Who almost went in, Kel? Maybe I know them."

"Mykal Duncan."

"She your girl?" I ask.

"She might've been."

"I do know her, Keldon. I mean, I know who she is," Tea says, snapping her fingers as if she's just remembered an important fact. "Man that sucks, really. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too, man. But don't worry, we'll get through this. Just talk to Evangeline, she's helped me sort through all kinds of problems."

"That your girl, Ryan?"

"Hell, no. I don't have a girl. Evangeline's what my dad always called the evening star. She helped him work up the courage to propose to my mom."

"That's sweet, Ryan, but I don't think a star is going to do anything."

"No, really. Shamrocks help too. And I got lots of them, and so far, the Careers have completely ignored me. If that's not good luck, I don't know what is."

"Oooh, I hadn't even noticed that!" Tea exclaims, regaining her bubbly demeanor. "You're right, that is good luck! Maybe they don't even know we exist!"

"That's what I'm countin' on, my friend," I say, giving Tea a high five. We take one last look at the Avoxes' handiwork on the roof before Keldon and Tea head down to the seventh floor and I return to the eighth.

_Penny_

Six o'clock is coming quickly and Tyler and I are getting ready for Ryan, Tea, and Keldon's party. I've been to several parties, but none of them have ever been like this. Well, I don't know what this is going to be like, but I'm pretty sure that it's not going to be similar to any eight-year-old's birthday party I've ever been to.

Dante and I are alright. He didn't tell anybody about what I'm doing, and I'm thankful for that. If they knew I was trying to figure out ways to trick them into prolonging my own life, I'd lose all of my allies, and we've worked so hard on making sure we have a wide variety of skills. On my own, all I'd have is my knowledge of plants and my pathetic archery.

Not what you usually see in a victor.

I find a pretty pale pink dress in my closet and slip it over my head. It falls to my knees in a beautiful silky curtain, rippling whenever I move. Not knowing what to do with my hair, I weave it into two french braids on either side of my head, just like it was for the Reaping.

Feeling satisfied, I skip out to dinner with the escort, our stylists, and Tyler, who are all waiting for me at the pastry-adorned table. Metella sits prim and proper with her rainbow hair meticulously arranged into a pile on top of her head, which really looks very silly. I don't know how having rainbow hair makes her feel special, and I probably never will. Tyler looks very tired, although he's a little bit dressed up for the party in a white dress shirt with a navy blue tie. Tyler and I eat in silence while Metella and our stylists chatter away about new breakthroughs in the fashion industry.

"What do you think of Shayna?" Tyler asks me suddenly, looking up from his plate.

"Shayna?" How do I play this? Do I pretend to love the girl and risk looking to dependent, or do I diss her and give Tyler the idea that I'll be the first one to turn? Well, let's see. He's asking, so he either likes her a lot or hates her a lot. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, so…first one. "She's great."

"You think so?" Gosh. Could he be any more cryptic? I think not.

"Yeah, I do. She brings out the best in everyone, I think."

"I think so, too." He doesn't say anything else, and I'm relieved. Love isn't encouraged in the Games, seeing how most of us will die. Look how Peeta Mellark turned out.

Once we're done eating, Tyler and I excuse ourselves, sneaking out to the elevator. Metella is too dim-witted to notice, and the stylists really don't care what we do, so sneaking out is fairly easy. When the elevator door opens, I'm surprised to find several tributes already inside. Jax and Ariel, standing awkwardly in the back, Paisley, the girl from Three, Thomas, who is attempting invisibility, and Shayna, who is in a gorgeous teal dress similar to mine and bouncing excitedly. I smile at her and she grins back, practically glowing. Tyler bows his head almost subconsciously and stares at his feet until we reach the penthouse, District Twelve's floor.

"Dante, I'm just sooo excited for the party, aren't you? Tea told me there's cake and music- oh, Paisley, you're here!" The girl from Twelve stops tormenting poor Dante and rushes to talk to the girl from Three, who's glancing around nervously as if the girl might talk her head off. I giggle. By the looks of it, she might.

"Hi, Dante," I say, walking up to him, flanked by Shayna, Tyler, and Thomas.

"Hey, guys," he replies casually.

"So, I hear you got a nine," Thomas says. "That's not half bad." Dante rolls his eyes.

"Not that it even matters. We don't have sponsors."

"Well, yeah, but if the Gamemakers like you, maybe they'll be less likely to kill you with flesh-eating woodpeckers," Thomas counters. I laugh while Dante and Thomas continue to debate training scores, Tyler joining in, bragging about his eight, which isn't bad either. Slowly, Shayna and I make our way up the small flight of stairs that we're told leads to the roof, Shayna ranting about the party, her eyes glittering.

"Bring on the bass! I'm so ready for the Par-TAY! Finally, an excuse to dress up a bit! Anyways...God Tyler's just do dreamy I could die... Did...did I say that out loud?" Suddenly, she looks about ready to beat herself up. I giggle innocently, playing the little girl angle.

"He was asking about you earlier," I tell her. Shayna stops in her tracks and jerks her head towards me. If it's possible, her eyes are glittering even more.

"Really? What'd he say?"

"That you bring out the best in people." I start walking again, faster, and Shayna scampers after me.

"Penny! You can't just give me life-changing information like that and walk away! What else did he- Ooh, they have the colorful drinks!" Shayna notices the refreshments, and prances over to a table stocked full of weird, colored drinks. Some of them are glowing. I make a mental note to steer clear of that table. One should never eat things when they haven't the slightest fathom as to what they are. That's what Mama used to tell me when I was little.

The roof looks amazing. The sun is setting now, and unseen lights are glowing, changing colors and shapes on the stone floor. Tables of refreshments are all around, and an area is cleared out in the middle for a dance floor. Glowing balloons and streamers are everywhere, sending an eerie glow reflecting off the people. Peppy Capitol music blares from invisible speakers, surrounding me on all sides. How three tributes managed to pull this off, I have no idea.

The rest of the tributes are arriving quickly. I note the absence of Sasha and a few other tributes whose faces I can picture but whose names I can't remember, and wonder why they decided not to show. Ryan, Tea, and Keldon stand next to the mountain of cake they've ordered, nibbling at it absentmindedly, cracking jokes and laughing. How can they be so carefree when tomorrow we have to appear before the whole of Panem and be likable? Well, I guess they already are likable, so it's not a big deal for them. Maybe I should ask Ryan for one of his shamrocks he's always going on about.

I still can't decide what angle to go with. Tough is out of the question. I'm thinking I may go with the little girl approach; make everyone feel sorry for me. That's what I've been doing so far, and I'm thinking I should go with what I know, right? Unfortunately, Dante'll see right through me.

"Should I go for it?" Tyler comes up behind me.

"Go for what?"

"Should I ask Shayna to dance?" I scan the sea of tributes and find Shayna, twirling in her dress with her eyes closed, lost in the music.

"Yeah, Ty. We've only got two more nights till we're all at each other's throats. Make it count."

"Alright. Thanks, Pen." He punches my shoulder lightly and approaches Shayna. When she sees him, her eyes light up, and although I didn't hear Tyler ask her, she nods excitedly. I smile as a slow song comes on, perfect timing, I know, and they dance across the floor. Tyler's a pretty sucky dancer, but Shayna helps him, and before you know it, he's practically a pro.

I weave my way through the dancing and find Dante and Thomas standing in the corner of the roof, nibbling on ice cream cake and not talking. I feel sick for a moment, thinking that Dante might have told Thomas, but then I realize that if he had, Thomas would probably have confronted me already. As much as I hate it, Dante's awfully hard not to trust.

"Don't like dancing?" I ask them, grabbing a piece of cake from the table.

"I just came for the cake, anyways," Thomas grins, holding up his plate.

"Nice," I laugh. As if by some unspoken agreement, they both step away from each other, making room for me between them.

Guess I am the pathetic little girl after all. For the first time since I've gotten here, I allow myself to think about Tiffany, who, although I love her to death, is most definitely the pathetic little girl in the other arena. I blink back tears, knowing I'll never see her again.

_Jax_

Against all odds, this party isn't half bad. The music is loud and wild, Ariel's standing next to me making it look like I actually have a date, and even though I just ate, the food is magnificent.

"So do we have to play this thing here?" I hiss in Ariel's ear, referring to the fake romance we've devised.

"As much as it makes me want to puke, I think so," she whispers back. "If we just do it in the arena, the other tributes won't believe us. It'll mess everything up if they confront us." What do you know? The girl's got a brain on her.

"Alright, just remember you asked for it." They're playing a slow song right now, and even though I'm pretty sure it's almost over, I drag Ariel out to the dance floor, pulling her close. She drapes her arms across my shoulders and we step back and forth, not really dancing, but not standing still, either.

"So I hear Noah pissed off Sasha," I tell her, keeping my voice low.

"Yeah. Told him he had no chance of winning." I let out low whistle of appreciation.

"That's gutsy. Even I don't contradict Sasha."

"Eh, I might," Ariel shrugs. "But he's made decent decisions so far."

"Think about it. Has he made any decisions since the first day of training?" Ariel looks up, letting the last three days flash before her eyes.

"You're right. The only thing he did was tell us to intimidate everyone else. It's mostly been Noah."

"It's like I told you, we need to watch out for him."

"Yeah. The boy from Twelve, too."

"The guy who hangs with the wimp and the little girl?"

"Yeah. He got a nine, Jax. I've been training my whole life, and I got an eight."

"Alright, so he's on the list, too. Who else?"

"The girl from Five, Malia, I think her name is," Ariel says without hesitation.

"Why her?" I laugh.

"Look at her." I find Malia in the crowd, leaning against the table dipping strawberries in the chocolate fountain. "Can't you see how angry she is?"

"What do you mean?" I scan Malia up and down, but I don't see what Ariel's talking about. Until Malia senses my gaze and looks up. Her dark brown eyes hold more fire and scorn than even Ariel's, and her posture is stiff and unyielding. She regards me with a steely glare, and it's obvious how much she loathes me.

"Don't you see?" Ariel asks me, her dark green eyes trained on mine. I look back at her.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Wouldn't want to be around her when she finally blows her top, would we?"

"My thoughts exactly." The song ends and we leave the dance floor, not feeling like jumping up and down like idiots.

"Wanna go get a drink?" I ask Ariel, referring to the mysterious glasses of colored drinks on one of the tables. Keldon is replenishing an odd pink one, which automatically makes me think that it must be good.

"Sure they're safe?" Ariel asks skeptically. "I'm still not sure how I feel about Capitol food."

"Oh, yes, Ariel, I'm sure they've given us poison, especially since we're going into the arena for their entertainment the day after tomorrow," I say, rolling my eyes.

"Okay, fine," Ariel laughs. It amazes me how well we're getting along tonight. I almost have to remind myself that she's faking it, and I am too.

"Hey, Keldon, what're these?" I gesture to the pink drinks.

"Oh, they're really good. They're really sweet…the escort gave me and Tea some on the train, described it as cotton candy," he explains, smiling. "Ryan loves them; he says he's had three already." I can tell he's trying to be friendly, being one of the hosts and all, but you can tell the last thing he wants to be doing is talking to us. Ariel must sense this too, because she tells him he doesn't have to hang around, and he leaves, returning to Ryan and Tea.

"Wanna try one?" Ariel asks, staring at the pink liquid suspiciously.

"Sure." I grab two and hand her one. "Cheers." We tap our glasses together and raise the mysterious, cotton candy flavored drinks to our lips.

_Ariel_

I'm about to take a sip of the drink when the distinct, medicinal scent of it reaches my nose.

"Jax! Don't you dare drink that!" I fling the glass out of his hand, and it shatters on the floor, spreading the beverage everywhere. Everyone stares at us, shocked, but two Avoxes rush over to clean up the mess, and the rest of the tributes quickly return to what they were doing.

"What's the matter with you?" Jax snaps, still staring at his now empty hand.

"Keldon lied! Those aren't the drinks he said they were!"

"Oh, yeah? Well if you're so smart, what are they?" I motion for him to step forward, and I stand on my toes to reach his ear.

"Jemima showed me those the first night here," I whisper, the memory fresh in my mind. "She said that at really special parties, where there was a lot of food, sometimes they would pass around these drinks that make you throw up so you can keep eating. She showed me one, asked if I wanted to try. It smelled exactly like those. Just a different color."

"Really? Maybe all Capitol drinks smell the same. Now we've made a scene." Jax looks annoyed that I've ruined his drink, but if he really wanted one and if didn't believe me, he would've reached for another one by now. I tell him so.

"Fine," he growls. Eager to find his dignity, he says, "So that bastard and his friends set us up."

"Yeah. The pair from Seven and the boy from Eight."

"Do we confront them?"

"Might as well let them know they're a target. Otherwise, hunting 'em down will be too easy," I say with a smirk. With a sharp nod of his head, Jax whips around and parts through the crowd, searching for the group. We find them in a corner close to the stairs, huddled in a small circle.

"Hey," I say, poison lining my voice. "So those drinks, yeah, they don't taste like cotton candy."

"How would you know? You didn't try one," the boy from Eight laughs. "I thought they were pretty good."

"Shut up, Ryan, it's over," Keldon hisses. Tea bites her lip nervously.

"We're not as stupid as you think we are," Jax barks, stepping forward. "And we're gonna get you. All of you."

"Alrighty. Well, thanks for letting us know," Tea says brightly, masking her fear. "We'll…we'll just be going now." She grabs the boys' hands and leads them to the center of the dance floor, bouncing to the beat.

_Jezza_

Now this is what I call a party. I own the dance floor, spinning in psychotic circles, allowing my hot pink strapless dress to twirl around me like a whirlpool. This is what I was made for: city life, parties, and hot pink dresses.

Unfortunately, the dream ends promptly at midnight. Now I know how Cinderella must have felt.

I think Paisley is going to agree to be my ally. I think. I hope. I think now that she's gotten to know me, it's becoming increasingly unbearable to send me to my death, which, if she doesn't agree to help me, is exactly what she'll be doing.

I decide to go be social.

"Hi, Paisley!" I squeal, trying not to trip in my pink high heels. "You look totally fabulous!" And she does. Paisley is wearing a gorgeous lavender dress that hugs her body and is decorated with silver rhinestones. It's very girly, and she never struck me as a girly person, so I'd be willing to bet her escort or stylist forced her into it. Her beautiful hair is woven into an elaborate updo and embellished with sparkles. I expect her to scowl at my compliment, but she actually smiles at me.

"Thanks, Jezza. You don't look half bad either." I back away, holding my hand to my chest, hurt.

"Half bad? I thought I looked beautiful! You have no idea how long it took me to pick out this dress, bribe my escort to give me her matching shoes, and curl my hair, and you say I don't look half bad!" Paisley is unapologetic, shrugging casually.

"I said what I meant, Jezza," she says.

"Fine, whatever. But I'll have you know, my stylist said he was going to do my hair up exactly like this tomorrow because it looks so great," I inform her, patting my platinum blond curls. "Anyways, Paisley, you gonna be my ally yet?"

"I thought we had already agreed." My heart stops. _Yes! _Paisley's gonna help me! Not being able to stop myself, I throw my arms around her and jump up and down, which is challenge in heels.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" I screech. Paisley shoves me away.

"You're an idiot, Jezza," she says bluntly.

"I know. But you love me anyways!"

"Yeah," Paisley laughs, "keep telling yourself that. Maybe one day it'll be true." I laugh at her comment and drag her onto the dance floor. She turns around awkwardly for several moments, but before long, she's just as wild as me.

When the clock strikes twelve, nobody takes any notice.

**Well, there you have it! Our tributes have had the time of their lives, but they're starting to realize that their lives may be ending very soon. Will they spill to the Capitol? Will they ignore Caesar completely? Only time will tell.**

**And that brings me to the subject of the interviews! So, I may need some help with this. I think I'm going to do this like the Reapings: 3 chapters from Marjorie, four districts per chapter. However, please keep in mind that these will take me a while. I will have to bury myself in the tribute bios in order to come up with answers to these questions. However, it would really speed things up if you'd like to PM me some questions and answers for your tribute, if you want. If you want to be surprised, which I would probably want, then please don't! **

**I hope you liked reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! R&R!**

_**~IceTigers**_


	11. Interviews: Districts 1 thru 4

**I've recently discovered how to make a robot emoticon! [:|] See? It's pretty epic. And this is a man with a mustache :{ Even more epic. Just thought I'd share that. But it really has no connection to the story, so you can ignore it.**

**Did you miss our dear friend Marjorie? Probably not. Well, it doesn't really matter, cuz she's back! And our tributes are about to face their biggest challenge yet: the interviews. I think it's a pretty big challenge, at least for me ;)**

**Enjoy, and please review!**

_Marjorie Snow_

"Liam!" I bark at my brother's door. "We're going to be late!"

"How do you know I don't want to watch on TV?" he replies stubbornly.

"Because we don't have to, we get front row balcony seats. Now _come on!" _Finally, and after a long pause, my idiot brother decides to appease me.

"Where's mom?" is all he says.

"She's already gone. You were being slow," I say, irritated.

"Well, sorry, I had to fix my hair," he explains, patting his sparkly purple head.

"Get over yourself." Without waiting for a response, I grab his wrist and drag him towards the door mercilessly. Mom took the car, and dad took the other one when he left to have a conference with the Gamemakers, so we have been downgraded to pedestrians. But we're going to have to be very fast pedestrians if we plan on making it to the interviews.

We make it just in time. Pushing our way through the throng of color, we manage to reach our seats on the balcony, where we can see all of the screens, the stage, and the two round chairs that have already been set up; one for Caesar, one for the tributes. The anxious chatter of the crowd fills up the hall. Who will stare at them like a deer in the headlights? Who will own the stage, overshadowing even Caesar? And, most importantly, who will make a lasting impression?

We'll find out in about one and a half hours.

"Welcome to the Interviews!" Claudius Templesmith's amplified voice rings out over the crowd. "We have a very exciting show for you tonight! And now, may I present your official Guide to the Games, Caesar Flickerman!" The crowd goes wild. They always do for Caesar, even though we see him every year.

The lights on the stage come up, and Caesar jogs up to the front, smiling widely and waving his hands. His twinkling blue suit shimmers in the hot white lights, and if it's even possible, he seems even more excited than everyone else.

"Hello, folks!" he shouts into his microphone. "Are you ready?"

"Yes!" the crowd shouts back. My voice and Liam's join the others.

"Well so am I, folks, so am I! Now remember, we only have three minutes with each of our tributes, to delve into their secret lives and uncover their secrets, and folks, no one is more excited than yours truly!" The crowd cheers by default. "Let's see if our first tribute really shines! Give it up for the lovely Sparkle Tristan from District One!" We all cheer wildly and stand as Sparkle steps onto the stage from the wings. She looks stunning in a floor-length, strapless dress that's covered in gold glitter and iridescent gemstones. Her hair is curled into tight, perfect ringlets that spill down her back in an auburn waterfall, and her heavy gold eyeliner brings out the copper flecks in her otherwise average brown eyes.

"Good evening, Sparkle," Caesar greets her graciously, backing up to take a seat in his chair. He gestures for her to sit, and she does so, primping her hair.

"Now Sparkle," Caesar begins, leaning forward and putting a gentle hand on her knee, "forgive me if I sound a bit, well, _cliché, _but I simply _must _know…do you like sparkles, my dear?" We laugh hysterically and Caesar pretends to look embarrassed by his question, but he quickly turns back to Sparkle, awaiting his answer.

"Oh, yes," Sparkle answers, grinning. "In fact, I was named Sparkle because when I was born and my parents couldn't decide on a name, I was always grabbing my mother's sparkly scarf off of her neck." Caesar laughs with us, shaking his head in disbelief.

"That's wonderful, Sparkle, really," he says. "Now, tell me about your mother. Does she wear sparkly scarves often?"

"My mother is a _very _stylish woman," Sparkle announces proudly, the grin never leaving her face. "She's always up to date on Capitol fashions, though," she adds a bit bitterly, "we don't have all the fantastic hair dyes and tattoos that you have back in District One." I sigh sympathetically. What would my life be like without my powder blue curls? How would I live with myself?

"Ah, that really is tragic, my dear," Caesar says, taking her hand as if to comfort her. She smiles sadly and waits for him to continue. After the great tragedy of District One's deprivation has set in, Caesar continues.

"Now, Sparkle," he says, readying himself for the question.

"Yes, Caesar?"

"Is it true that your two older siblings are both victors?"

"Yes. My oldest brother, Prism, he won the 89th Games. And Glitter, she won the 94th." The crowd murmurs in recognition, remembering the years that Sparkle has just mentions.

"Are they here tonight cheering you on, Sparkle?" Caesar asks.

"Yes. They're right over there, with the other victors!" Sparkle points a perfectly manicured finger at the balcony, and I have to turn around to see the victors, who sit in the rows right behind our row, where my family and the Gamemakers sit. I don't know how many of them are left, but they fill up about two rows. Prism and Glitter are grinning, excited for their sister, hopeful that she'll bring the family more glory.

The timer goes off, and Sparkle stands to leave.

"Thank you, Sparkle, and may the odds be _ever _in your favor, my dear," Caesar says, patting her hand. She curtsies quickly and rushes off of the stage, the odd rhythmic clicking of heels giving away her anxiety. Huh. Her siblings must have coached her on the interview.

"Isn't she a doll, folks?" Caesar smiles. He is answered once again by cheers, and he stands to introduce the next tribute. "Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm Capitol welcome to District One's very own Sasha Hoycota!" The people get on their feet as they always do for the Career tributes as Sasha comes sauntering onto the stage. He looks amazing in a gold suit with a strange, almost blinding metallic sheen to it. It reflects off of every light on the stage, and the people below me are getting a kick out of it. As for Sasha himself, he betrays no emotion, fixing a tough scowl on his face. I can tell he's going to play the confident and mysterious angle. Works for me.

"Sasha, that was quite an impressive training score you earned. _Ten._ Like to tell us how you got it?" Caesar is saying. He leans forward, subtly pressuring Sasha to give in to his obvious arrogance and break the rules, tell us his skills. Sasha, however, mirrors his movements, leaning forward on his elbows and looking Caesar in the eye.

"If I told you, Caesar, what fun would that be? I believe we're supposed to keep it a secret. No one wants the Games to be spoiled before they've even begun." Caesar leans back and crosses his legs, considering the statement carefully.

"You have an excellent point, Sasha," he says to the boy, and then to us, "doesn't he?" The crowd below me nods, only half listening to Caesar. The other half is wondering what else is going to fall from this boy's lips. Caesar returns to questioning Sasha without drawing much attention to the less than enthusiastic response from the crowd.

"Now, Sasha, if you don't mind my saying, you seem quite confident. Just how sure are you that you can win this thing?"

"I'm positive," he replies without hesitation. "I've been in training since I was old enough to start, I'm at the top of my class, I'm a good fighter, I'm a good thinker, and I just really believe this is my year. I'm telling you, Caesar, the rest of those idiot tributes gotta watch out, 'cause I can tell you right now, I don't plan on losing." Caesar raises his lavender eyebrows and looks out at us, silently asking what we think of this boy's confident attitude. Is it confidence or arrogance that motivates his tongue? Caesar doesn't pry for an answer, instead turning to questions about Sasha's social life.

"Tell me, Sasha, who is the lucky young man or woman who will be entering the second arena on your behalf?"

"My friend Crystalline. She's eighteen, and she tried to volunteer, but Sparkle got to the stage first," he says with an ounce of contempt. "I can't tell you how excited she was when I got the volunteer spot. Of course, she'll have to train hard and use her head, and I honestly don't know if she can do it, but I used to fight her, and she's almost as good as me."

"Hmm," Caesar says thoughtfully. "Now, tell me Sasha, this Crystalline, are you…forgive me, together?" Sasha wrinkles his nose in disgust.

"Oh, no, never," he says. "She has a boyfriend, and with all of my extensive training, I wouldn't have had time for a relationship. Besides, I never wanted one." Caesar seems a bit let down by this less than juicy response, but he covers well.

"Well, maybe you'll have more time to settle down if you win this thing," he says.

"When I win this thing," Sasha corrects him.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Sasha, when," Caesar repeats, putting his hand over his heart to give a sincere apology.

BUZZ…

Sasha stands and says, "The next time I'm in the Capitol, it will be as your victor, ladies and gentlemen." Well, it's gutsy, but I've got to admire his confidence. I stand with my brother and the rest of the Capitol, cheering for this trained boy who's so confident in his abilities.

The next girl out is Anastasia Rein from District Two. She's not at all the typical Career, hyper and bubbly, although she did volunteer, so I have to give her partial credit for that. At any rate, she looks lovely in a dark gray textured evening gown that drapes off of her shoulders and with stone beads woven through her hair.

The boy who follows Anastasia catches me and Liam's attention. Noah James, according to Caesar. I think the main reason he's so noteworthy is because he's just so….massive. Not in a bad way, either. More like an_ I can snap your neck and break your spine in one blow kind of massive_. He looks very intimidating and professional in a clean cut dark gray suit.

"Noah! Welcome, welcome!" Caesar stands to welcome him, taking his hand and shaking it firmly. "Noah, how are you enjoying your stay in the Capitol?" And with a quick glance at us, he says, "Are we being good hosts, folks?" We nod at him, grinning, while Noah considers his answer.

"I think the Capitol is very impressive," he says carefully, "but I wouldn't want to live here." Caesar gasps and throws himself back in his chair as if Noah has actually stricken him.

"Why ever not?"

"The styles….they're a little crazy for me, I think." Immediately, Caesar self-consciously pats his lavender hair.

"Do I look alright to you, folks?" he asks us. We shout reassurances at him, because really, that blue suit is classic, and Caesar Flickerman would be nothing without his annual color change visit to the hair salon. I don't know what this boy is thinking; our styles are fabulous. He sighs in relief and turns back to Noah. "Noah, tell me about your family. Are they excited for you?

"I don't really care what they think about me being here," he says bluntly. "But I do want to go home to them." Caesar leans forward, knowing he's struck gold.

"Why is that so important to you, Noah?"

"I have a brother, Gabriel," Noah answers. "I'm here for him, not for the fame."

"Awwww….." the crowd coos, touched. Caesar gives Noah a small encouraging smile and reaches to give his shoulder a comforting pat.

"So, Noah, if I understand you, and correct me if I'm wrong, if it weren't for your brother, you wouldn't be in the Games this year?"

"That's right. My brother, he's sick, see, and we need the money." The audience overflows with sympathy, and Caesar puts his hand on his heart to show how moved he is. I don't know whether or not Noah's lying about his brother to seem more interesting, but if he is, he doesn't show it, and it's very effective. We will remember the Career who's risking his life to save his brother's.

The timer goes off, signaling the end of Noah's time on stage. He stands, wiping his face of the little emotion it had displayed, and strides away without another word.

"I like him," Liam informs me. I nod, still thinking about the mean, tough guy who'd do anything for his brother. I wouldn't even skip a nail appointment for Liam. Or would I? I don't know; Liam's never been sick. Ever.

"Well, folks, that's two districts gone!" Caesar shouts, standing. "And now we're moving on to District Three, beginning with the beautiful Paisley Braun!"

"I love her name," I whisper to Liam. He nods, not really listening.

Paisley stands out already, on account of the unbelievably vibrant red color of her dress. It's covered in black gears to symbolize District Three, and her pin straight blond hair is in a high ponytail, giving her a young, preppy vibe. She doesn't grin, or even smile, really, but her face has a very pleasant look to it. She doesn't look ready to bite anyone's head off, like Sasha, but she isn't annoyingly happy like Anastasia.

"Paisley! Welcome to the Capitol, darling!" Caesar reaches out his hand, giving her a warm welcome handshake. She nods and sits on the edge of the round chair, waiting for her interrogation to begin.

"Now, Paisley, if you don't mind, I'd like to cut right to the chase. What do you think your chances of winning are? Are you expecting to go home?"

"Well, I got a seven in training, so obviously I'm good at something," Paisley says, giving us a sly smile. It's effective; I'm now consumed with desire to know what this something is.

"Ah, and that's all very good Paisley, but I'm afraid you didn't answer my question," Caesar chides, shaking a finger, smiling. Paisley smirks and plays with her skirt, not looking up.

"Well…Caesar I don't really know what to tell you. I mean, I'm not a bloodthirsty animal, but I do think I'm a contender in these Games. Killing other people is not my forte, Caesar, but I want to make it home."

"And tell me; _will _you kill anyone when the time comes?"

"I'm sure I would in self-defense, but otherwise, I think it will depend on what's going on in my head at the moment, how threatened I feel, you know. I can't tell you anything for sure right now." I like this girl. She's playing the mysterious angle for all it's worth, and I haven't seen a girl play that angle for a long time.

"Well, we'll certainly look forward to finding out," Caesar says, changing the subject quickly. "Paisley, would you tell me about your friends?"

"My best friend, London Brantley, she's the one in the other arena. I don't really like anyone at school except her," Paisley explains. "I know lots of people, but I like less than half of them."

"Really?" Caesar says, looking surprised. "Why is that?"

"I don't know. They're just so annoying, I can't stand it."

The buzzer sounds before Caesar can continue his questioning.

"Well, thank you, Paisley, and may the odds be ever in your favor," he says. She nods, stands, and leaves.

The next boy up is Zephyr Bryant, but I don't like him. He's boring, and spends most of the time staring at the lights, scared of us, scared of Caesar. I remember his training score though; it was a four. I don't think I'll be rooting for him.

Ariel Penn, the charismatic girl from District Four, is after Zephyr. She smiles widely and waves as the crosses over to Caesar, looking amazing in a mermaid-style dress covered in the same kind of iridescent scales that were on the Tribute Parade costumes. They've obviously given her extensions, because her hair is long and curly, hanging down to her waist. At the Tribute Parade, it was just below her shoulder.

"Hi, Caesar!" she says before Caesar has a chance to welcome her. She turns to us to blow a kiss, and all of the hands in the front row reach up to catch it. She giggles at their reaction and plops down on the chair.

"Ariel, you certainly seem to enjoy the spotlight," Caesar observes.

"Yeah, yeah I guess I do," Ariel says, grinning. "But Caesar, I think you have a secret love for fame as well." Caesar looks taken aback as if she's just read his mind.

"We have a smart one here, folks!" he says, laughing. "Are your friends as easy to read as I am, Ariel?"

"No," Ariel huffs, crossing her arms. "I thought they were, but the day of the Reaping, one of them proved me wrong."

"Really? Oh, do tell," Caesar prompts her, leaning forward to catch every word.

"Well, I had just volunteered, right, and I was so excited to finally be getting my chance in the Games, and when everyone came to say goodbye, my boyfriend, Zane Laleye, well, _he_ just sauntered in and said he didn't want a dead girlfriend." I gasp. How horrendous. This poor, poor girl. All she wants is to bring pride to her district, and her boyfriend puts her down like that? If Donny ever did that to me, I'd have Dad throw him in the arena for the Careers. I really think I would.

"Oh, Ariel, how awful for you. That must be miserable," Caesar sympathizes, looking genuinely distraught. "How have you gotten through?"

"Jax, my district partner, he's really helped me get over it a lot." The crowd "oohs" suggestively, but Caesar doesn't press the issue, and I'm guessing he'll leave it for Jax. He's only got a minute left, and clearly he has something else he wants to ask her.

"Well, Ariel, I have an idea. I'm absolutely positive that Zane is watching right now. Is there anything you'd like to tell him?"

"Yes, Caesar, thank you." Ariel leans forward on her elbows and fixes her eyes on the camera. "Zane," she says, "when I come back, you'd better watch yours."

Right on cue, the timer goes off. Ariel blows us more kisses as she prances off the stage. Immediately, she's replaced by, _swoon, _the gorgeous Jax Lucas, shining in an absolutely swoon-worthy suit that looks like the same material as Ariel's dress. It looks great on him without taking away from his gorgeousness. Me and thousands of other girls scream, and he winks at several of us, waving his fingers.

"Why, hello, Jax!" Caesar exclaims, gesturing for him to sit. "You have quite a fan club, don't you?"

"Apparently so," Jax answers, looking around at all the wide-eyed girls with a smirk on his face. Jokingly, he says, "Just you watch out girls; I'll be coming for you." Of course, this results in more screams, marriage proposals, and the classic "kiss me, it's my birthday." Caesar laughs merrily.

"Jax, are you looking forward to the Games, my friend?"

"Oh, definitely. I really think this is my year. My training partner, Oliver, he's in the other arena, and I can't wait to see him at the end of this thing."

"Really? You think he's prepared too?"

"Caesar, we've been working together since we were twelve, and he's just as skilled as I am. He's not going down by any means."

"Well, I'm sure it will be a very happy reunion," Caesar approves, smiling. "Jax, let me ask you something- have you made any new friends in the Capitol? Fellow tributes, part of your fan club? Who do you feel is your closest companion outside of District Four at this moment?" There it is. The Ariel question. The girls are on the edge of their seats, willing him to put her down, to say he wants them instead. Jax, unfortunately, doesn't see that.

"Right now, umm, I think it's my district partner, Ariel. We've really helped each other out in our training, and with her brain and my fighting skills, we're a pretty unbeatable team."

"That's fabulous Jax, really. Now, tell me, do you have any _feelings _for the young lady?" Jax hesitates. "Oh, come on! We can keep a secret!" Caesar encourages him. "Can't we, folks?"

"YES!"

"Well, it's really hard to say. I think I might, if we were still in District Four, but the thing is, one of us is going to die, right? I need it to be her. How could I possibly put my life aside for a girl? Ariel's great, but I don't think there's going to be anything between us." The audience sighs, depressed by the tragedy and hopelessness of it all, although a few girls are eagerly rubbing their hands together, glad that they don't have any competition.

The buzzer sounds, and Jax thanks Caesar for his time before leaving. Caesar laughs as all of the girls wave goodbye.

Malia Blakely from District Five is next. And besides her mediocre training score, I've been looking forward to uncovering this girl's deep dark secrets.

**Hope it wasn't too repetitive! Only two more chapters until our tributes are handed over to the mercy of the Gamemakers. Am I the only one that's getting excited? :D **

**I really hope you guys liked it! R&R, and keep a lookout for the next chapter!**

_**~IceTigers**_


	12. Interviews: Districts 5 thru 8

**Sorry, guys! Been busy! It happens, right? Yes. Anyways, here's the second chapter of interviews! Only one more before we enter the arena!**

**I'm also sorry about the repetitiveness of the interviews. They're a lot like the reapings, unfortunately.**

**Enjoy!**

_Marjorie Snow_

I lean forward as Malia Blakely comes onto the stage, wearing a simple black dress with a circle skirt and a bright blue belt. It's pretty, I guess, in a minimalist kind of way, but it's her facial expression that intrigues me.

She's _smiling. _In every picture and video I've seen of her, she's never once smiled. But now she's grinning like an idiot, almost like Caesar, only worse.

"She's fake," Liam comments suddenly.

"What?"

"Can't you tell? She's so mad that's she's smiling." I consider Liam's comment for a moment, leaning forward even farther to scan Malia's expression. He's right, I realize.

"Welcome, Malia!" Caesar exclaims. He stands to give her a handshake, which she returns with a much tighter grip than necessary. Although her face looks happy and excited, her knuckles are white.

"Malia, how are you enjoying your stay at the Capitol?" Caesar asks her after they both sit down.

"Oh, well I'm just _so _happy to be here. _Really." _The audience murmurs, finally sensing the bitterness inside this girl. While her words are complimentary, her tone is harsh.

"Well, I'm glad, Malia," Caesar says, unfazed. "What would you say the best part of your stay has been?"

"Well, gosh, I don't know," she snaps, still smiling. "The whole place is just _amazing. _I don't know how you guys can stand how amazing it is."

"Thank you for that, dear. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to know that our tributes are enjoying there stay."

"Yes, _your _tributes. Anything to make you happy, Caesar," she says, shooting him a poisoned smile. I know that Caesar is getting uncomfortable by the way he's tapping the arm of his chair, but his smile never falters. He's a true professional when it comes to dealing with difficult tributes.

"Malia, who do you think your greatest adversary is going to be once you enter the arena? Who are you most concerned about facing?" Everyone leans forward simultaneously. This is one of the most important questions Caesar can ask. Who the strongest tribute is.

"I haven't really thought about that, Caesar," Malia says, her voice lined with hatred. "I think I just need to get out there, try my hardest and see what happens. I don't think you really want to cross me."

"I'm sure we don't," Caesar agrees encouragingly. And just in time, the buzzer goes off and we cheer, bidding goodbye to Malia Blakely until tomorrow.

Caesar stands to announce Conan Ledger, Malia's district partner, but after a few questions, I get bored with his monotonous replies, and Liam and I start chatting up a storm.

"Who are you thinking?" I ask him.

"I'm still holding out for that kid from Six."

"The wimpy one?" I laugh. "What about that guy from Two? Why not him?"

"I just wanna see what this other kid has to say, that's all."

"Alright, whatever," I mumble, rolling my eyes at my brother's idiocy. But then again, he always did have an eye out for the underdogs. Maybe he thinks that the boy from Six is one. I doubt it, but I guess you never know.

A girl from Six, Isabella Vay comes on, but I don't pay attention to her either. She's peppy and annoying, constantly going on about her sparkly gear-covered dress. How obnoxious is that?

Well, chances are it's the last pretty dress she'll have, so I guess I have to forgive her.

Thomas Mcaw is next, the boy Liam is so interested in. He's wearing a dark gray suit covered in metallic gears, a lot like Isabella's dress. He's so thin and wormy that it almost seems to drown him.

"Thomas! Good to meet you, sir," Caesar says enthusiastically. "How are you this evening?"

"I'm very well, thank you," he replies politely. I moan and slouch in my chair, but Liam doesn't move an inch.

"Fantastic, Thomas. How are you feeling about the Games? Nervous?"

"A little bit, yes. Who wouldn't be? But Caesar, just keep this in mind: I know I'm not the strongest, but I _do _have some tricks up my sleeve. Don't forget about me."

"I wouldn't be able to forget you in a million years," Caesar says, smiling. I grin. He's required to say that. I can't even begin to count all the tributes he's said that to.

After allowing the audience to soak up what's been said, Caesar moves on with the program. "So, Thomas, tell me about your life back home in District Six."

"Well, not much happens in District Six," Thomas says, fiddling with his fingers. "I pretty much just go to school and then come home and scrape the dirt off of trains and cars and stuff."

"Ooh, how exciting!" Caesar gushes, rubbing his hands together in delight. "Who do you go to school with, Thomas?"

"The kids in District Six." This earns him a laugh, and Thomas looks vaguely pleased with himself. I know he said that on purpose, but a lot of others probably don't.

I can't hear the buzzer because people are laughing so hard at Caesar's baffled expression, but I know it must have gone off, because Thomas stands, shakes Caesar's hand kindly, and leaves.

"I still like him," Liam says, almost to himself.

"Whatever," I mumble. If that boy from Four wins, I have every intention of breaking up with Donny and running away with him. So I'd like him to win. Or that Malia girl, I think. She seems like she could be interesting in the arena.

District Seven is up. Tea Whythers is a fairly pretty, very happy girl who looks around sixteen, and her stylist has shoved her into a bright yellow, very low cut dress that makes her look brighter than the sun. She rushes to her spot next to Caesar, smiling widely, and waving. We have to acknowledge her enthusiasm, so she's greeted by many whistles and cheers.

"Hi, Caesar!" she says immediately.

"Hello, Tea," he replies, reaching out to shake her hand. "That's quite a welcome, right there."

"Yes. I'm really glad you all like me!" She turns to blow a kiss, and is answered by more shouts of excitement and approval.

"So, Tea, I must say, this has been bothering me for a quite some time, now. Is it true that your mother named you Tea because she was always craving tea when she was pregnant with you?"

"Yes," Tea giggles. "And I love tea, too, so I guess it runs in the family."

"It must. Are you ready for the Games, do you think? What are your chances of winning, in your opinion?"

"Well..." Tea considers this for a moment before brightening up again. "I just believe I'll win. I've always been a positive thinker, and it's gotten me places. So, I think I'm going to win. That's about it." Tea shoots a huge smile at her admirers.

"Positive thinking has always helped me too. It's funny- it's almost like magic, isn't it folks?" Caesar turns to us, grinning, and we have no choice but to shout in agreement. Once the crowd has quieted, he turns back to Tea. "Now, Tea, I'm guessing you're pretty skilled with an axe, being from District Seven?"

"Caesar!" Tea gasps, bringing a hand to her heart. "Why are you giving away my strengths?" Caesar gives her a sheepish grin, and I die with laughter. Tea gets over it, and continues. "I'm okay, I guess."

Before Caesar can speak again, the timer beeps and Tea has to leave.

"Well, thank you Tea, and best of luck to you, dear," he says. She smiles and nods before skipping off stage.

Her district partner Keldon Peak is quick to replace her. Looking fabulous in a bright yellow suit, he sits next to Caesar on the edge of his chair, waiting for the interrogation to begin.

Caesar gets right to it- the question we've all been waiting to hear.

"Keldon, I think we were all very moved when we heard that girl call out for you during the Reaping Ceremony," Caesar begins empathetically. "May I ask who it was?"

"Her name is Mykal," he answers, stiffening at the memory.

"Is she your special girl back at home?"

"No." He's hiding something, and Caesar catches it.

"Do you _wish _she was?" Keldon hesitates for a moment before nodding his head slowly. I sigh and slump back in my chair. How hopelessly tragic. Now what would really be killer was if...

"Keldon, tell me, is Mykal in the other arena? Did she accompany you to the Capitol?"

"No. But someone else I love is," he says. Well, darn. That would've been exciting. If I were him I would've lied. _But, _I tell myself smugly, _I'll never be in his position. _

Caesar doesn't bother to ask Keldon who's in the other arena; he knows we're itching to hear more about Mykal. A lot of the interviews are boring and repetitive, and this will be one of the only ones with some sort of tragedy in it. Caesar's gonna milk it for all it's worth.

"Tell me more about Mykal, Keldon." Keldon hesitates for several seconds before deciding that he's going to die, so there's no reason he shouldn't say anything.

"She's amazing," he says. "She's the best person in my life."

"Awww..." the crowd coos. I'm not ashamed to say that I'm among them. Caesar sighs, and puts his hand on his heart.

"Well, best of luck to you both, Keldon. I think I speak for all of us when I say that I hope you can be together again."

"Thank you." Caesar's timed it perfectly. Keldon leaves and is replaced by Carolyn Grisha, the girl from Eight. She's very shy and reserved, and appears to have no sense of strategy, because she goes off on a tangent listing all of the things she's good at: running, climbing, hunting, throwing spears...I hope she knows that if the Careers know she can climb, they're going to be looking in the trees.

Ryan Parrish is right after Carolyn, dressed in an odd patchwork suit that's made up of hundreds of different fabrics and colors. Some are metallic, some are iridescent, and some are covered in glitter. Not a single patch isn't shiny in some way. It looks very good in the stage lights, although I'm sure that up close it's a bit creepy.

Ryan also wears a goofy grin and a shamrock in the breast pocked of his suit. He waves with a lazy and careless air about him that's somehow captivating, and I can't help but laugh at his idiocy. Or intelligence, I can't tell. He plops down on the chair and crosses his legs, looking Caesar in the eye. Daring him to do something about it. Caesar acknowledges the challenge with a subtle raise of his eyebrows, but doesn't accept it, beginning right away with the questions.

"Do you like the Capitol, Ryan?"

"Well, sure. It's filled with shamrocks."

"Shamrocks?" Caesar looks hopelessly confused.

"Yeah, like this!" Ryan plucks his shamrock out from his pocket and holds it out for us to see. "They're good luck."

"Really?" Caesar asks, fascinated. "How's that?"

"I don't know. They're just good luck."

"Do you plan on taking one into the arena with you?"

"Yes, siree."

"Well, I certainly hope it helps you. What do you think your chances would be if you didn't have one of these..._shamrocks?"_

"Well...I'd just have to count on Evangeline. I rely on Evangeline a lot acutally, and I don't know what I'd do without her, 'cause if you haven't noticed, Caesar, I'm not too bright up 'dere."

After we've laughed for a few seconds, Caesar asks, "Who is Evangeline, Ryan? Your girlfriend?"

"Heck, no. Evangeline is what my dad used to call the evening star. She watches over all of us."

"That's sweet. Has your father been a major influence in your life?"

"Of course. He's my dad. My family, they're really special. We're closer than a lot of families back in District Eight."

"How so?"

"I don't know. Just happens I guess. At the end of the day, all we really need is each other, you know?"

The buzzer goes off, I'm sure, but you can't hear it over the clapping from Ryan admirers. He'll be forgotten by tomorrow, I'm sure, overshadowed by the Careers and such, but right now he's famous.

"What do you think?" I ask Liam while we wait for District Nine.

"I think dad's right. These Games are going to be interesting," he replies without hesitation.

**Gosh, I really hate writing these. Thank goodness they're almost over! Anyways, I hope that _you _liked it! And again, sorry for the late update! :)**

**R&R!**

_**~IceTigers**_


	13. Interviews: Districts 9 thru 12

**Again, sorry it took so long! I wrote it all up a few days ago and then for some reason the document didn't save so I had to rewrite it all and it took longer the second time around...yeah I suck. Sorry! :)**

**Also, this is going to be the last chapter for a while. I'm NOT quitting, but school is really starting to overwhelm me. Any of you take those standardized tests? Well I don't know what you guys call them, but over here they're SOLs, and teachers tend to go nuts over them. Because of these wonderful tests, I have 50 nonsensical math problems to do tonight, several science tests to study for, not to mention Latin and history and all that. I'm not quitting the story, but I need a little break, and school comes first, right?**

**Having said that, if it's been over 3 weeks and I haven't updated, PLEASE PM me. It's very possible I've temporarily forgotten. And I want to finish this story as badly as you guys want me to, so don't give up on me :)**

**Alrighty, well, enjoy! **

_Marjorie Snow_

I don't pay attention to the tributes from District Nine. Liam told me they're both criers, and I didn't get to see their Reapings anyways. They don't need my attention.

"What do you think so far?" I ask Liam.

"I think it's going to be interesting when we get into the arena."

"It's always interesting."

"True, but I think this year could be special."

"No, duh. It's a Quell."

"Shut up, Marjorie."

"Gladly." We sit in silence, and when the boy from Nine leaves, the girl from Ten appears: Shayna Rogers. She looks lovely in a lacy dress that compliments her skin tone and high heels that look great, although she seems to be having trouble walking. I can tell she's a farm girl, but she hides it well.

"Shayna!" Caesar stands to greet her, and she plops onto the chair beside him. "You look fantastic tonight."

"Thanks!" Her voice has a bit of a southern twang, so I can tell that she's a farm girl. She hides it well, though.

"Shayna, are you ready for the Games? Are you prepared?"

"I think I'm as prepared as I'll ever be. I mean, like, I never imagined that I'd actually be here, you know?"

"I'm sure you didn't. But, tell me, are you enjoying your stay in the Capitol?"

"Oh, yes," Shayna gushes. "I've always wanted to come here. I always wanted to be a fashion designer for the Capitol. So when I got Reaped, of course I was scared, but I was so excited to finally get to see all of this!" She gestures to her surroundings, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement. We have no choice but to cheer for her- she loves us, and we will love her in return.

Caesar manages to calm down the crowd in time for a couple more questions.

"Now, Shayna, we all know that every tribute had a friend who was required to accompany them to the Capitol for another Hunger Games. Who is yours? Do you think he or she is prepared?" Shayna folds her hands on her lap and considers the question, her chronic grin faltering a bit. Finally, she decides to answer.

"My friend's name is Dahlia. She used to help out on the farm. She smart, so I think she'll be alright. I'm worried for her, but really, I'm so excited to be here, like, y'all don't even know! I haven't thought too much about anything else, just living in the moment right now." Caesar nods, pretending to understand her situation as the buzzer goes off. Shayna flips a strand of strawberry blonde hair behind her shoulder before prancing off of the stage.

Her district partner, Wendel, is dull. And that's being kind. He doesn't say anything interesting, responding to Caesar's questions with cliche, stereotypical answers. He doesn't receive many cheers, and leaves the stage to be replaced by Penny Quinn, the little twelve-year-old from Eleven. She looks adorable in a green and purple sundress speckled with leaves. Smiling innocently at the crowd, she sits beside Caesar with flawless posture, crossing her ankles.

"Hello, Caesar," she says brightly. "How are you this evening?" The crowd howls with laughter at Caesar's baffled expression.

"I thought I was to be questioning you, miss," he says, chuckling merrily.

"Well, I thought you might be tired of that, so we can change it up," Penny grins. Without waiting for a response, she questions him briefly on his favorite colors and foods before he insists on turning the table.

"Are you always this inquisitive?" he asks. She shakes her head. "Well, what do you do back in District Eleven."

"I go to school."

"I see. Do you have any friends at school?"

"Of course. Everyone has friends." Caesar can see he's getting nowhere with this little girl, so he leans in, the universal sign for _I'm about to ask a really important question._

"Penny," he says, "You're twelve, correct? One of the youngest in this thing. What do you think your chances are?"

"Well..." she hesitates, "I'm not what I look like, really. My father always told me that everything isn't always as it seems, and I'm an example of that. Don't count me out, because I'm stronger than I seem."

"I don't think anyone's counting you out," Caesar responds as the buzzer rings. Penny jumps up and curtsies briefly before bouncing off the stage. I don't know what that little girl's playing at, but I know for sure that she's up to something.

Tyler Wynters come out next. He's pretty short for his age, which I think is sixteen, and is wearing the same kind out outfit as Penny, minus the dress part.

"Good evening, Tyler," Caesar greets him. After waiting for the cheers to die down, he begins.

"Tyler, how are you feeling about the Games?"

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I've trained hard, I know what I'm getting into."

"What have you been training in, exactly?" Caesar asks. This is a test, a test to see if Tyler's smart enough to keep his strengths a secret, or if he can be caught off guard.

"I'm pretty good with survival, I guess," Tyler says. "I shouldn't say my big strength, of course, but I've trained with most everything in the center. I'm good at some things, but not at others."

"Fair enough," Caesar nods. "Do you think your 'big strength' gives you a particular advantage?"

"Not really, I mean, I'm sure that everyone else has their main skill as well. Mine is probably just as good as any of theirs, and the Careers are pretty skilled with most everything."

"Yes, unfortunately, that is true. Do you consider any of them a substantial threat, or are they all just the average type of dangerous?"

"Well, I think Sasha's pretty fierce, and Noah's a force to be reckoned with, definitely. The rest I think are pretty average."

"Well, best of luck to you, Tyler." Right on cue, the buzzer sounds and Tyler leaves, only to be replaced by Jezza Time, the girl from District Twelve. She looks very pretty in a satiny pink evening gown with tiny rhinestone flames at the hem and neckline. She grins like an idiot, cupping her hand and rotating it slowly in a strange kind of wave.

"Jezza Time! What a lovely dress you have there!" Caesar begins as she sits down.

"Oh, isn't it?" Jezza sighs, running her hands over the satin fabric. "It's sooo pretty, it's a shame I'll only be able to wear it once..." I smirk. I've never worn an outfit twice.

"Yes, that is a shame," Caesar sympathizes. "Let's cut to the chase, shall we? Jezza, what do you think your chances are of winning the Games?" Jezza sighs dramatically before answering.

"Well, Caesar, honestly, I'm a little worried about going into the arena. I don't really know how good my chances are, and more than anything I just want to go home and apologize to my ex-boyfriend because I didn't even get to say goodbye to him. Oh, and Caesar, it's such an awful feeling because here I am, looking all pretty and he's out there all alone with no one to comfort him and...oh, Caesar, I just hope that I can go home."

"Awww..." the crowd coos. Caesar's eyes brighten as he senses an opening for a new question.

"Your ex-boyfriend? Tell us about him," he prompts her.

"Oh...well...his name was Ken, and he was just sooo dreamy, but after a while I kinda just got tired of the relationship, you know, so I dumped him. But then I was walking home and I realized that he was the best boyfriend I've ever had, and I've had lots, mind you, and I was going to go apologize after the Reaping, because I didn't want to apologize and be all happy and then have to say goodbye if he got reaped, you know? But then _I _was reaped, and he was still mad so he didn't come say goodbye..." Jezza's almost crying now, and I don't know whether to feel sorry for this shallow girl or to laugh at her.

"I'm terribly sorry, Jezza," Caesar says, fake tears glistening in his eyes. "That's the most tragic story we've heard yet tonight."

"I know!" Jezza howls, stroking her blond hair. Half of the audience below is sniffling, and it's all I can do not to fall over, laughing.

Finally, the timer goes off and Jezza has to leave. I'm tempted to laugh again when the boy that comes out is calm and composed, no sign of any emotions on his face. He's tall, and looks intimidating in a jet black suit with a crimson tie. The sniffling people in front of the stage stop and hold their breath as he crosses the stage to sit next to Caesar. Somehow this boy commands attention without even trying. That's going to help him in the Games.

"Dante Lupin, isn't it?" Caesar asks. I smile, feeling sympathetic towards Caesar. By the time he gets to District Twelve, he's exhausted, and after the show that Jezza girl put on, I'll bet he's drained.

"Yes, sir, that's right," Dante replies.

"Dante, tell me about your family. Do you have any siblings?"

"Yes, I have three little sisters: Holly, who is sixteen this year, Lilac, who's twelve and Eglantine Rose. She's fourteen."

"You and you dad, you run the house then, don't you?" Caesar grins. Dante grimaces, but Caesar doesn't notice. "Do your siblings annoy you sometimes?"

"Well, I think that every older sibling gets annoyed with their younger brothers and sisters at times, but we're a family," Dante says simply.

"Tell me about you youngest sister, Lilac, I think you said."

"Lilac...she's the sweetest little girl I know. She knows we're not too well off, and she helps in any way she can. But she's so strong. My mom used to tell me that even the smallest flower can strike a deadly blow, for in beauty and love there is great strength. Lilac is a living example of that."

"Dante, I have one last question for you. What would you do to get back to your family?"

"If you're asking how vicious I'm going to be in the arena, all I'm going to say is that I'm going to do everything I can to get home, but I'm not going to lose myself."

"Of course not," Caesar agrees. The buzzer goes off, and we all erupt into cheers. The tributes were fabulous, most of them, and I'm more excited than ever to see them in the arena! Even Liam is on his feet, hollering and clapping. Dante leaves with a nod of his head, and Caesar stands in the middle of the stage, his arms raised, smiling with pride.

"Well, that's it folks! Stay tuned tomorrow at two o'clock, when the tributes you've met tonight will enter the arena. You know the drill: only one comes out. Who will it be, folks, who will it be?" People start shouting names of their favorites, almost overpowering the sound system itself. Caesar manages to shout an earsplitting goodnight before the stage goes dark.

The fourth Quarter Quell starts tomorrow, and I can't wait.

**I hope you liked it! R&R!**

_**~IceTigers**_


	14. Arena: Purple Skies and Silver Grass

**It's the moment you've all been waiting for! The arena! I think I'm going to just write these arena chapters in one tribute's POV, and I feel like writing Penny, so we'll be doing Penny first. Then probably a Career, a non-career, maybe Marjorie, and so on. I don't know, I'll figure it out. **

**Enjoy!**

_Penny Quinn_

I finger Tiffany's beaded bracelet, my mind overflowing with horrifying thoughts and images. This is it. The arena is right above me. In less than ten minutes, I'll probably be dead. Thinking about Tiffany- poor, sweet, innocent Tiffany in her own launching room right now almost brings tears to my eyes, and I can't afford to cry. Not now. Not until I win.

If I win.

Desperately, I go over our plan. I'll run to the left. Shayna and Thomas will grab a few things and then follow me. Dante and Tyler will be in the thick of things, Dante getting the weapons, Tyler gathering supplies. Then they'll meet up with us.

As long as they're not dead.

Cursing myself again for being so negative, I turn to my stylist, who is impatiently holding out my tribute uniform. It's an odd thing, or at least different than usual. The dark purple jacket is made of stretchy material, and has tiny silver sparkles all over. Underneath is a silvery tank top, and the pants are skin tight; durable, but flexible. Comfortable gray boots lace up to my knees.

"The jacket is flammable material," my stylist observes, "but the top is fireproof. Interesting."

"There's going to be fire?" I gasp.

"In some form, I believe so," he nods. My stylist, Dihren, is just as creepy as the other Capitol people, but he strikes me as an honest person, and that's what scares me. _Fire? They're throwing us into a volcano? With flammable jackets? And the sparkles, that doesn't add up either. _

"Thirty seconds," an automated female voice announces. My heart stops as the Games finally become devastatingly real. I'm going in.

"Well, go on," Dihren urges me. Without controlling myself, I step into the soundproof tube.

"Twenty seconds." Oh, no. Oh, this is not good. Not good….

"Ten seconds." The tube seals itself behind me, and I scream.

"Dihren! I'm not ready, get me out! _Get me out!" _Dihren turns away, probably to keep himself from caving in to the pathetic little girl who doesn't want to die.

The tube jerks up, and I dry my eyes with the back of my hand. _I have to be strong. _

But I can't.

My breathing rate increases as I get closer to the top and see the light up ahead. All I can see is a lavender sky, streaked with pink and gold. Not a sunset, though. The artificial orange sun is still high in the sky.

_Closer, closer, closer…. _My head rises above the ground, and I see the arena for the first time, along with the rest of the world.

And it's a….forest? No, that can't be right. Nobody designs a forest for the fourth Quarter Quell; that's insane. That volcano thing would have been better.

But I'm not complaining. A forest is simple enough. And then my eyes catch sight of something. Two tiny balls of light moving across the field. The tributes around me see it too, and follow it with their eyes. And I know in that instant that this is no ordinary forest.

The trees around me are tall and thick, with rustling leaves of varying colors. I see one whose leaves are dark purple. The clock on top of the Cornucopia counts down from sixty, and I use every second to take in my surroundings. The balls of light are everywhere in the forest, the sky is purple, the leaves on the trees vary in color from pink to blue. The grass is an unnatural, saturated green.

The rush of a waterfall can be heard in the distance, and I make a mental note not to go there. Water that's so easy to find won't be safe.

_Ten._

I take note of where my allies are. Thomas is right beside me. Shayna is across the field, exchanging glances with Tyler, who is four away from her. Dante is on the far right, the girl from One and the boy from Three on either side of him.

_Nine._

I'm supposed to go left, to the sound of the waterfall. That's good; I'll be able to warn them not to drink it. But I can't get too close, because there's bound to be some tributes that'll fall for it.

_Eight._

There aren't many supplies at the Cornucopia. Mostly weapons. But there are a few backpacks. I pray that Tyler will get some of them. I won't know what to eat in this place.

_Seven._

Three more balls of light cross the field, distracting all the tributes that see them.

_Six._

The boy from One is ready to charge, eyeing the weapons greedily.

_Five._

The girl from Nine looks like she's about to cry. I can't follow in her footsteps.

_Four._

I finger my bracelet again. Tiffany will be okay.

_Three._

I might not be.

_Two._

I'm terrified.

_One._

I'll never give in to my fear.

An ear piercing alarm goes off as the clock reaches zero, and I run. Nobody takes notice of the little girl without supplies or weapons, and I'm so far away from the Cornucopia that nobody near me has anything to kill me with. I turn my head around and see Shayna and Thomas grabbing a few things, but they're safe and away from the fight. Dante and Tyler are dodging knives and axes, and my heart hurts for them. I really, really hope they don't die, but they have to if I'm going to live.

I reach the edge of the forest and duck behind the nearest tree. It's wider than me by far, so I can hide easily. Slowly, I bend low to the ground and peek out from behind the tree. Thomas is already racing towards me, two blue backpacks and a dagger in hand. He sees me and nods, and I take that as a signal to hide again. Before thirty seconds have gone by, he ducks in with me, shoving a purple backpack into my hands.

"Thanks," I whisper.

"No problem."

"Shayna almost here?"

"Yeah, she got caught up in a fight with the girl from Eight, but Tyler jumped in to save her." He peeks out from behind the tree. "She's almost here now."

"We should go deeper in. We're too exposed out here," I suggest, looking behind me into the dark, menacing woods. I shudder. Who knows what tricks the Gamemakers have up their sleeves? I know there's fire somewhere; my stylist hinted at that. And the waterfall is bound to be poisonous. But what else?

"Yeah, alright," Thomas agrees. Staying low but moving fast, we run deeper into the forest, being as quiet as we can.

"You stay here and wait for everyone else, so they can find us," I say when we're pretty far in. "I'm gonna go climb that tree, keep watch. I'll let you know if someone's coming." Thomas nods in agreement and ducks in the tall silvery green grass right beneath the tall tree I'm planning to climb. It's taller than most, but has lower branches, so I'll be able to climb it. I sling the backpack over my shoulders and grab the lowest branch, gradually swinging myself higher and higher until I can see the clearing. What I see almost makes me sick, but I fight with my stomach, knowing that in this foreign place food will be hard to come by.

The term "bloodbath" used for the beginning of the Games is startlingly accurate. They're practically drowning in blood out there. Or at least, that's what it looks like to me. Several lay dead on the silver grass already. Five already. The Careers have taken over the Cornucopia, Noah standing as a dangerous guard, waiting to challenge anyone who comes near him. Jax and Ariel own the outfield, so to speak, teaming up and knocking out everyone they can before they've even come close. Sparkle and Sasha are busy gathering supplies. Sasha's on weapon duty I can see, and Sparkle's on food and supplies. I don't see Anastasia. I'd be surprised if she's gone already, but she always was the weakest of the Careers.

Malia is already gone, as are Dante and Tyler. I hope they can find us. The alliance of Tea, Ryan, and Keldon are gone too, as are Jezza and Paisley. Now, only the Careers remain.

The sound of hurried footsteps brings me scrambling down from the tree to find Shayna exchanging supplies with Thomas. She looks stressed, but is obviously trying to be optimistic.

"Hey, Penny, take this…" she hands me a small bag of dried fruits and a dry canteen. "We'll have to find some water soon. There's a waterfall not far from here, you can hear it-"

"No," I cut in sharply. "It's too obvious." There's no need to tell her it'll probably kill us. If need be, at the end, I could always use that as a way to win. Besides, I'm not positive it _is _poison.

"Oh, yeah, I guess that's true," Shayna says absentmindedly, adjusting the straps on her backpack. "Y'all know where Dante and Tyler are?" Thomas shakes his head.

"They're on their way," I answer. "They weren't at the Cornucopia."

"They're not dead are they?" Shayna asks, a note of panic in her voice. "You didn't see Tyler, did you?"

"Oh, no, no, I think they're fine. And just so you know, Dante is a person too," I add, smirking. Thomas holds back a laugh while Shayna's face turns bright red.

"I know! Do you go trying to pull something like that on me! I'm just really worried…" she does a quick turnaround to scan the area, "…about everybody."

"I know. We all are. But they should be here any minute." Sure enough, before long Tyler and Dante come racing out from in between the trees. They stumble to a stop and quickly start dividing supplies and weapons. Tyler hands me one of three bows and a quiver of arrows.

"Are you alright?" Thomas asks.

"I'm fine. Dante could use a little help, though," Tyler pants.

"Why? What's wrong?" I turn to Dante, my fear escalating. He's like my older brother to me now, he can't be hurt…

"Nothing much, that jerk Sasha cut my arm pretty bad while I was fighting over one of Ty's bows, but it'll heal," he shrugs.

"Here it's gonna heal a lot slower," I tell him.

"Really, it's no big deal." He turns around to show me where the sleeve of his jacket has been sliced, and a deep, clean cut in his skin oozes a thick dark red liquid. Thomas turns a sickly pale yellowish color.

"That's a big deal, dude," he says.

"I've seen worse," Shayna says encouragingly. It really isn't the worst I've seen in the arena, but sometimes the slightest injury can be the difference between life and death.

"Does it hurt?" I ask.

"I'll be fine, Pen. If I can find this certain plant, I can heal it right up."

"Dante, I don't think you're going to find that certain plant. The grass isn't even real," I say, bending down to tear a silvery green blade out of the ground. I hold it up for examination. "See? In one light it's silver, in another it's green, and if you hold it up to the sun…" I demonstrate, "it's blue." This seems to put a damper on Dante's nonchalant mood.

"Alright, well we'll deal with it later. Tyler, did you get any medical supplies?"

"Yes, sir," Tyler replies, grabbing a neon orange first aid kit from his pack. It's a very unfortunate color, really.

"Would you mind just putting some gauze on it?" Dante asks, taking off his jacket.

"Sure." Tyler quickly wraps a clean white strip of gauze around the wound, securing it tightly with the tape in the kit. "There you go."

"Great, thanks. What do we do now?"

"We need water," Thomas speaks up. "Penny already said we can't go to the waterfall because that's where everyone will be."

"Actually," Tyler steps in, "the waterfall may be great. It'll be so obvious that it's not obvious."

"I agree with that!" Shayna pipes up. Everyone is nodding now, and I know I have to tell them the truth.

"Guys, I think it's poison." Everyone stares at me.

"Why?" Dante asks.

"Because it's so obvious. Think about it, water isn't usually very hard to find. They'll want to draw in the stupid people and get rid of them early on so that the real fun can start."

"I don't know if they'd do that, Penny. What if everyone drank there and then everyone died from the water? That's no fun either," Shayna reasons.

"I just don't think it's a good idea," I say.

"Fine, how about we just go check it out. Like Tyler said, there probably won't be anyone there, and we can make sure it's safe before we drink any," Thomas suggests. I still don't like it, but I agree with everyone else, not wanting to be the little girl in the minority. None of us know how long this alliance is going to last.

"Alright, so we can start heading that way," Tyler says, gathering up his supplies. "Hopefully we'll get there before dark."

_Hopefully we don't die before dark_, I think to myself.

**I hope you liked it! Sorry everyone wasn't mentioned, but I think I like it better this way. It makes the pacing better- not so rushed. So what do you think? Do you like the arena? It will become much more exciting, I promise.**

**R&R!**

_**~IceTigers**_


	15. Arena: Eight Tributes and One Kiss

**Okay, I don't really have much to say besides I'm glad you guys seemed to like the last chapter (although I wouldn't complain if I got more reviews) and I'm still amazingly busy, but have managed to find some more time to write, obviously. This chapter will focus on the Careers, and I feel like writing Jax, so...yup :)**

**Enjoy!**

_Jax Lucas_

The cannons go off. I don't count.

We didn't kill a whole lot of them. Only seven. Caesar will be listing this as an all time low.

But Anastasia's missing. A Career gone on the first day is something new. It hasn't happened in years. No doubt the people in the Capitol are beside themselves, wondering, or knowing, what horrible monster killed Anastasia.

Well, I guess we don't really even know if she is dead. Her body isn't among those at the Cornucopia. That's even weirder, because Careers don't separate. Not until they're the only ones left alive.

And since we only killed seven, that might be a while.

"Jax! We're ready to clear out," Noah calls from inside the Cornucopia. We've all piled the supplies on our backs. We'll find a nice cave or something to store it all in later.

"Alright. Where to?"

"We need water," Sparkle throws in. "Should we head to that waterfall sound? West, I think?"

"But that's where everyone will be," Ariel says.

"So?" Sasha huffs. "Since when do the Careers avoid a fight?" He gives Ariel a pointed glare. "Do you really think that whoever's there is going to be able to kill us?"

"Huh, guess not," Ariel shrugs.

"And Anastasia, what about her?" Sparkle asks.

"Oh, yeah, I found her," Sasha says, as if he's only just remembered. All heads turn to him, shocked.

"_You_ killed her?" I ask.

"No, I wish I had though. She was amazingly annoying." Sasha turns around and saunters over to the edge of the forest behind the Cornucopia to pull back a gray blue bush.

"Oh, my gosh..." Ariel breathes.

"What...who?" Sparkle stutters.

"That's a real piece of work," Noah comments. Well, no duh.

Anastasia's dead body lies on the ground underneath the bush. But she's been...mutilated to a point past recognition. I'm not even entirely sure it's her, but who else? And who would do this? No one has the stomach, at least not judging by our observations.

"Who do you think it was?" I ask.

"Does it matter? The point is we all have to stay on guard," Sasha commands us. "Together we can kill whoever did this, but alone we may not. We need to get rid of this person before they get rid of us. This is who we're hunting."

"Sasha," Noah cuts in, "if this is who we're going to hunt, it might be a good idea to figure out who it was."

"No, I get it," Ariel says. "There's no way of finding out who did this, so we don't know who the threat is. To make sure we kill them, we'll have to hunt everybody. Kill _everybody_, and fast."

"Smart girl," Sasha nods. And then to Noah, "Some of us should invest in a brain, don't you think?"

"Yes, I do. I think that's an excellent idea, as a matter of fact. You know, the first step to fixing a problem is admitting you have one." I snicker, and Ariel smirks. Sparkle struggles to hide a laugh as Sasha wrestles with his fury.

"Say we move on?" I suggest. "To the waterfall?"

"Shut up, Four," Sasha grumbles, shoving past me and taking the lead. Noah joins him, silently fighting for the position as leader. Something tells me that he's going to win, Noah.

"What are we supposed to be doing?" Ariel hisses in my ear. Right. Our relationship game. I meant what I said in the interview, but I think it would be nice to throw the Capitol a nice little twist on us. Ariel understands; we talked about it after the interviews. But we still haven't decided how fast or slow we want to take our "romantic relationship," or how we start.

"Just act natural," I whisper back, hiding my mouth behind her hair. If they put microphones on us, fine, but otherwise, there's no way they heard me. I casually drape my arm around her shoulders, and she grabs my hand, pulling herself closer. This is fine. The Capitol will be freaking out wondering if there's something going on, but we won't give them anything. Not yet, anyways.

This arena is odd, to say the least. It's...unnatural. The arenas for the Quells have always been special; I don't know the first, but the second was a utopia filled with poison, the third was a clock disguised as a jungle. But I know that every arena ever built has been natural. Until now, that is.

After several hours of trekking with only short breaks and nothing to drink, we find the waterfall. I stop involuntarily, overwhelmed with amazement. The waterfall...I'm positive there's nothing else like it in the world. At least a hundred feet tall and decorated with silvery ivy and flowers that almost look like jewels. The water itself doesn't look natural; it falls in silver and blue shimmering strands that glitter like diamonds falling into a bottomless pool. I wonder how many treasures lie at the bottom.

I can't see anyone, but that doesn't mean that the waterfall is abandoned. There's bound to be someone. I doubt they'll approach us, but you never know. After what happened to Anastasia, I'm ready to believe anything about the other tributes in this arena.

Sasha and Noah stride forward confidently, obviously challenging anyone who dares to confront them. Sparkle follows them and bends down to fill her canteen with the silvery water. She stands and carefully counts out seven drops of water purifier and sets the canteen down on the ground, ready to fill up another one.

"This place is weird," Ariel observes.

"I know. It's like you can't tell what's real and what's not," I say.

"It's not like that, Jax, it _is _that," Noah says. "We don't even know if this water is going to be safe, any time we spent at the edible plants section is probably useless."

"Quite whining. Honestly, I thought you were tougher than that," Sasha mutters, bending to fill his canteen.

"No, no Noah may be on to something." Ariel steps away from me as if a light bulb just went off in her head. "Look at this stuff, it's not normal. If anything should be normal, it should be the water." She bends down and swirls her finger around in the blue liquid.

"Careful, might be acidic," Sasha grumbles. He's really in a mood; I think he knows he's losing his status, and he's none to happy. If he keeps this up for much longer though, Noah's gonna snap his neck just to get him to shut up.

"It's not acidic, if it were it would have burned Sparkle already. Sparkle, do you feel okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I didn't drink anything yet."

"Good. Come feel this, it's weird." Sparkle bends down beside Ariel and runs her finger through the water.

"It's too dense, almost oily," Sparkle observes. "It's weird, you don't notice it unless you're looking."

"Well it's obviously not safe to drink," I say, "So we need to keep moving. We need water. We won't last three days without it."

"The Careers have to last more than three days," Ariel says.

"We've lasted one," Noah notes, looking up at the purple sky. The white sun is sinking behind the trees, behind the deep blue mountain in the distance.

"Where should we make camp? I'm tired of lugging around all this stuff," Sasha complains. I glance around, surveying our surroundings. We can't camp out here in the open, not without knowing all the secrets this arena is keeping.

"Hey, hey guys look." Sparkle points to the waterfall. "There's a cave or something behind the waterfall. I hold my hand above my eyes to block out the sun's light and see what Sparkle's talking about. Sure enough, right behind the waterfall is a tiny looking cave, one of it's sides barely visible in the mist.

"Great. We can hang out there," I say.

The cave turns out to be some sort of weird tunnel, but we're all tired and thirsty, and even though the rush of the waterfall taunts us, we agree to spend the night here. Sasha claims the front, and Ariel and I head to the back behind Sparkle and Noah, knowing that we're gonna have to kick up the heat a notch now that we're resting. I sit down and start sorting through the backpack I got at the Cornucopia, letting Ariel lean her head on my shoulder.

"I don't like this arena," she says.

"Me neither. Can't wait to leave it." Ariel sits up and looks me in the eye.

"What if you don't leave it?"

"Then you will." That's true, actually. If I don't win, Ariel's the second-best Career. Noah's the obvious winner. The obvious winner never wins. Sasha's too arrogant, Sparkle isn't smart enough. Ariel is. And if I can't win, I think I would pick her as my second choice. Whether I like it or not, and I don't like it, she's become my friend.

"You don't know that," she whispers.

"Yeah, I do."

"How?" I read her eyes to find out what she wants. What I find is completely fake, but it's still there. Without stopping to hesitate, I lean in and kiss her. For a moment she freezes, but eventually she responds, kissing me back.

And weirdly enough, it doesn't feel completely fake.

When we break apart, we don't say anything. Ariel gives me a kind of half smile before turning away to lean her head against her backpack. The tunnel stretches out behind us, menacing and dark, and I'm almost worried that I won't fall asleep. But we're safe from the other tributes for now, and we'll need to be well rested. I lean against the wall of the tunnel and fall into unconsciousness.

If we can find water that's _not _fake, we might last another day.

**Hope you liked it!**

**R&R!**

_**~IceTigers**_


	16. Arena: A Blue Compass and a Ghostly Hand

**Aloha! Sorry it took so long...again... :) I've got lots of people telling me that SYOT stories are being taken down, so I've been lying low for a while. I know, excuses, excuses. But every excuse I give you is legitimate, I swear.**

**Here's another excuse for later this summer: this August I'm going to be doing something called Camp NaNoWriMo, which, if you don't already know what that is, is where you attempt to write a novel in one month. I really want to see if I can do it, so I'm all signed up. Unfortunately, that means I'll be focusing all my energy on that story, so don't expect many updates in August. Sorry!**

**BUT I will be having back surgery soon, so following that I won't have anything better to do except write, read, watch TV, and play computer games, so I'll be updating more frequently. **

**Enjoy this next chapter! **

_Jezza Time_

"Paisleeey," I groan. "I'm tired." It's dark, and the sky is a mystical blue, not the kind you'd see in District Twelve, but a shiny, almost metallic blue. It's creepy, but oddly mesmerizing.

"Jezza, I told you we'd stop once they put the faces in the sky. They haven't done that yet," Paisley grumbles.

"Well don't we want to be kind of undercover by then? What if the lights in the sky, you know, make us more visible?"

"I think the sound of your voice will give us away faster than the sky."

"Yeah...probably right. Oh, well, I'm nervous and when I'm nervous I can't stop talking, so I'm just going to rant, is that cool?"

"No," Paisley snaps.

"Alrighty, thanks," I say, pretending not to hear her. "I'm not sure what I think about this arena, I mean, it's suuuper pretty and stuff, but somehow the fact that it's so pretty makes it seem more deadly. We're lucky we found that little stream back there, I don't think there's much water in here either. And I haven't seen one plant that I recognize. Doesn't that seem weird? I didn't think they wanted to kill us off _that _fast. No water plus limited food. What are they playing at? Oh my gosh, my dad used to say that dying from dehydration is the most painful thing in the world, because your organs shut down one by one, and then your tongue-"

"Jezza, shut up, please."

"-and doesn't that just sound _soooo _painful? I can't even imagine it. Where do you think the Careers are? I hope they went the other direction, because I want to practice throwing knives at trees before we meet up with them. Of course we'll have to, at some point, because they're bound to be the last ones standing, but I think that if I can get enough practice, I might stand a chance. But I don't know about you, Paisley, I mean, after all, you _are _a blondie."

"So are you," Paisley mutters. She must be tired. Usually she'd try harder to make me shut up. It's dark though, so we'd better find some shelter. We've probably been walking a lot farther than most everyone else, but that's only because we got water. I don't know how many others did. But either way, I want to be under cover before it gets too late; you never know what beasties the gamemakers have set up to kill you. I'm pretty sure I won't win, but I just hope that someone pierces my heart or my brain or something when I get killed. I don't like the idea of dying for hours. I don't do well with pain...

"Well, this looks like a nice little spot, don't you think, Paisley?" I point to a tiny clearing surrounded by white rose bushes. "Nice and comfy."

"Yeah, that looks real safe. Let's go into the peaceful looking clearing, there won't be anything to hurt us in there," Paisley says sarcastically.

"Well, fine, be that way. _I'm _going." And I know she'll come too. First night in the arena, it pays to have an ally watching your back. And the truth is, at this point, I don't care if it's safe or not. They're not going to kill us tonight. They'll kill us tomorrow at the earliest. It's no fun if everyone dies at once. That's what my escort said, and I guess she'd know, seeing how she watches every year...she said something about one year almost biting of her manicure because she was so nervous. I can't imagine if I ever ruined my manicure, I mean, I've never had one, but they must be heavenly.

Paisley gives me the sleeping bag and takes the fleece blanket for herself. We'll probably take turns. She was _so fast _running to the Cornucopia earlier, I could barely believe it. I grabbed us two backpacks that don't really contain anything too useful, but Paisley got the sleeping bag and some pretty gruesome looking knives.

"I don't like it here, it doesn't feel right," Paisley whispers, staring up at the metallic sky. She divides a package of dried fruit between us, and I nibble on what appears to be a raisin absentmindedly. Strange, I'm not really hungry.

"What, the clearing?"

"No. Well, yes, but not just that. This whole place is weird."

"Really? Hadn't noticed."

"Shut up." I'm coming up with a comeback when the Capitol anthem plays high above the trees. I lay down on my back to see the faces in the sky. The girl from...Two? A Career's gone this early? Huh. The girl from Eight is gone, as is the pair from Nine. Several others too, but not near as many as usual. Of course, I forget to count.

"Alright, then. Night, Jezza," Paisley mutters, wrapping herself up in the blanket.

"Night."

"Jezza! Jezza, Jezza, you wake up right now! _Right now!" _I wake up to the rather unpleasant feeling of Paisley yanking on my long braid.

"Ouch! Cut it out will you?" Realizing what I just said, I sit up, terrified that she's actually going to cut off my beautiful blonde hair. But Paisley doesn't have any intention of becoming a hairdresser, not anytime soon, anyways. She looks terrified. And this is Paisley we're talking about, here.

"What, what happened?" I ask her.

"Something's wrong here," she whispers. "Really wrong."

"No, duh. Something's going to be wrong wherever we go. So go back to sleep. Can't even see the sun yet." Grumpy, I pull the sleeping bag over my head and allow myself to drown in it's warmth. Paisley is just on edge. I'm on edge too, I'm just a better actress. I played a tree in our school play once in second grade. It was pretty epic.

Happily, I sink into unconsciousness again.

This time I wake up to screaming and an abandoned blanket beside me. _Paisley. _

"Paisley!" I scream. Never mind that I just alerted every tribute within a five mile radius of my location; my new best friend and key to survival is in trouble. I scramble out of the sleeping bag and follow the sound of Paisley's voice, shouting, and I know it's cruel, for her to keep screaming. But if she doesn't, I'll never find her.

But this place is a maze. One minute it sounds like Paisley's voice is on the right, and then the next it's on the left. I swear it's above me now, but a quick scan of the silvery treetops above is unhelpful. And all the time I'm screaming her name.

And suddenly, it stops. I stop as well, my heart beating so fast I'm afraid it's going to run right out of my chest.

"Paisley?" I whisper. There's no reply. Did they kill her? Who was it? _What _was it? But no, she's not dead. There's no cannon. They always fire the cannons. That's one thing you can always count on in the arena.

But if she's not dead, where is she? Why did she leave?

Hopeless, alone, confused, and devastated, I jog back to our temporary camp. Thankfully, all of our supplies are still there. Unfortunately, Paisley isn't. I curse myself silently; I should have listened to her. She knew what she was talking about. Now she's gone, not dead, but gone, and I heard her screams.

A glimmering object on my sleeping bag catches my eye. A little silver box. I don't recognize it; it's new. Someone or something has just put it there. That's not normal. Common sense is telling me to avoid it, but I'm too curious. Cautiously, I approach my sleeping back and examine the little box. It's very small; to small to contain anything really dangerous. Unless it's a poisonous gas or something. But it was obviously left here for me, so what can I do but take it? Carefully, and at an arm's length away, I lift the lid. When nothing jumps out to kill me, I feel more confident. I bring the box closer and peer inside. What I find surprises me.

A little blue compass.

It's not just any compass, either. It's beautiful, decorated with silver and purple swirls, and the little face is encrusted with gemstones and sparkles. It's attached to a long silver chain that would fall to my belly button if I put it on.

There's something else in the box, too. A little slip of paper.

_If you can find us, you can save your friend. We will kill her in three days. Personally, we think it would be easier to let us deal with her. But Jezza, it's your call._

_Marjorie Snow_

The Gamemakers need a bump in pay. I swear, these are the best Games I've ever seen. Actual, conscious beings have never been in the arena before, and whatever left that note for Jezza is definitely an actual, conscious being.

The Gamemakers are sending us on a wild thrill ride too. We know that Malia, the girl from Five killed Anastasia, and she was brutal, but when the Careers went back to find her, she was unrecognizable. Malia did not do that; she took off north right after killing Anastasia. The Gamemakers neglected to show us what _did _mutilate Anastasia's dead body, and now we're more nervous than ever.

And now there's the blue compass and the note given to the girl from Twelve. It showed us the girl running through the woods screaming trying to find Paisley, but we were just as surprised as Jezza when we saw the box.

I wonder what other secrets this otherworldly arena is hiding.

Malia is on the screen now. She's been headed north nonstop almost. She did sleep last night, but only for a few hours, and her hand never left that giant axe she got from the Cornucopia. She was a bit scary actually, swinging that thing around. It didn't look like she cared who she hit or where she hit them. I think the reason there weren't many deaths that first day was because people were trying to avoid her mindless rage, and that the people that _did_ die were killed by her hand.

I love her.

Really, she's great. I would never pick her for a best friend, ever, but she's psychotic and insane and angry and a great source of never ending entertainment. And the cameras have turned to her because things are about to get interesting.

The arena has been changing as Malia reaches the borders. It's huge, we've been told, but the Cornucopia isn't in dead center. So Malia's traveled as far as humanly possible in one and a half days. But I'm starting to notice that silver is becoming more dominant in the cotton candy fantasy color scheme. Black has appeared here and there too, in a flower, in the leaves on a tree. Black is one of the last colors I'd expected to see here. Too dark, too scary. This arena is scary, but in a much different way. But as Malia journeys farther, I see more and more black.

And then the excitement starts.

It begins with whispers; soft, hissing whispers echoing all around her. Malia's head jerks up, her dark brown eyes alert and blazing. I gasp as a misty hand with long nails and spidery fingers reaches out to grab her from behind. She feels the shift in the air, and whips around to glare at the person behind her. Fear flashes in her eyes when she realizes that no one's there. The whispers continue, crescendoing to an earsplitting hiss and then quieting down again to something barely audible. Malia turns in circles, clutching her axe in both hands, ready to swing. I'm on the edge of my seat, and mom is trying not to bite off her nails.

Malia, utterly terrified by the strange things happening around her, takes off even farther up north. I don't know why she keeps going in that direction; it's pretty clear that the farther north she goes, the worse things are going to get, at least to me. But I'm right. More transparent, ghostly hands grab at her, and the whispers get consistently louder, occasionally punctuated by a girl's high-pitched scream. The louder the whispers get, the faster Malia runs. The camera zooms in on her eyes, which are livid with fear, wild, insane, even. It happens to everyone in the arena sooner or later, but never this quick. The Games are already driving her crazy.

I can't think of a victor who isn't. Who knows, this girl may have a shot. Insane killers win a lot. But then again, she's not a Career...I don't know, time will tell I guess.

Malia stops again and turns around in circles, turning, turning, turning, until finally she faceplants on the blackish-silver ground. It would be comical if hands weren't still reaching for her, if transparent bodies weren't crossing the screen, if I couldn't see the carelessly paved gravel road in the distance.

Probably leads to a ghost town, I'm guessing. The camera can't stay on Malia forever, so it switches to the threesome who call themselves Ryan, Tea, and Keldon. They're just trekking into the mountain range; not to smart on their part, and not too interesting.

"Marjorie, have you seen your mother?" Dad enters the room, his hand on his forehead.

"No. I think she went out with some friends to watch the Games in the theatre." The theatre plays the Games 24/7, and people come and go as they please. The huge screens make you feel that much closer to the action. Donny and I go sometimes.

"Alright," my father says. "When she comes back, tell her to call the Head-" he stops.

"The Head Gamemaker?" I ask. When there's no reply, I turn around to look at him.

But my father, the invincible President Snow, is lying sprawled on the floor, unconscious.

**Hope you liked it! R&R, as always!**

_**~IceTigers**_


	17. Arena: Prey and Blood

**Alrighty. Really nothing to say except….sorry for taking so long again :) I should probably stop apologizing, I don't think I'm ever going to be a fast updater, really. Something always comes up. This time it was a storm :p **

**So this was going to be a fun little chapter about Ryan, Tea, and Keldon, but then I realized that I have to do the Careers. Darn. We'll have to put up with Sasha, since I've been neglecting him. Oh well, it happens. **

**Enjoy!**

_Sasha_

The next morning, my throat is dry and sore, and my lips are already feeling chapped. I knew that dehydration would eventually bring us down, but I didn't know it'd be so quickly. I thought we had like…a week. Guess not.

Noah, AKA Mr. Know-it-all, is already up, of course, sticking his hand in and out of the oily waterfall, examining the liquid between his fingers. Man, I hate that dude. He'll be the death of me- emotionally, mentally….and, dare I say it, physically. I'd feel much, much better if I could say in total confidence that I'd be the death of him.

"So, what marvelous conclusions have you drawn about the 'water?'" I ask, standing and crossing my arms. They were a tad sore from all the fighting yesterday, but thanks to my extensive training, I'm more than used to it.

"Well," Noah begins calmly, "it's obviously not water."

"Obviously. It's not even _good _fake water."

"I think they wanted to weed out the stupid ones fast. The _really _stupid ones. Like that blonde girl from Twelve, and the little trio that threw the party. They would be so excited to find water that they probably wouldn't think twice about dunking their head in. Then they'd die, and it would be funny because they were so stupid. Humorous deaths are hard to come by. And judging by what happened to Anastasia, they're especially rare in this arena."

By now Sparkle, Jax, and Ariel are all awake, listening to Noah's epic smart-person speech. Only Ariel seems to actually understand what he's saying, which I guess is a good thing. Weeding through the dumb people is relatively easy, as long as they don't come swinging at you with an axe.

That being said, I don't really understand what he's talking about either. How could anyone possibly be so stupid to fall for that?

"They'd be so desperate," Ariel answers my question, "those people. And they would be right to be. If they're that confused and lost in the first place, they're not lasting to the end."

"Exactly," Noah nods.

"Bravo, so we've solved the mystery of the water," Jax grumbles. "But I'm thirsty and there are no rain clouds."

"Even if there was, it'd probably be acid rain," Sparkle mutters.

"Probably," Jax says, rolling his eyes in exasperation. I can't blame the guy. This is the first time in history that the Careers have been outmatched, that they can't figure out a good plan. It's not the first time they've lost, though, and that's another thing that's making everyone nervous. And if we can't find water now, we're dead meat.

"Guys, we should get going," Ariel says, standing up and slinging her pack over her shoulder. "We should split up. I'll go with Jax, and you three can go together. How's that?"

"Are you sure you want to split up? Did you see Anastasia?" Noah asks her. "We need to stick together, for now at least."

"Yeah. And it's not like you were actually planning on looking," Sparkle snaps. "You two think you're so cool, but we all saw you last night. We're not blind idiots."

"No, you're not blind," Ariel agrees. Jax grins and puts his arm around Ariel's shoulder.

"Let's get going," he says. "Keep trekking west?"

"I guess," Noah shrugs.

"Ooh, I don't know, guys. Did you see those mountains? We don't want to meet anything in there."

"Sparkle, the mountains may very well be the only water source. You never know. We need water. _Now._ We have a better chance of surviving in the mountains with water than out here without any," Noah reasons. I'm really getting sick of his Mr. Leader speeches, but that can wait. I'll kill him eventually. And it won't be pretty.

I casually cut in front of Noah and lead the way out of the cave, past the oily waterfall, and towards the mountains.

We're all exhausted by midday. The land is almost entirely uphill, and we still haven't found any water. Ariel and Jax, who've probably never gone second without seeing water, are beginning to drive me crazy with all their whining. Noah says so little I've almost forgotten what his voice sounds like, and Sparkle speaks occasionally, but says nothing of intelligence or importance. We're tired and irritable and thirsty, and the most infuriating thing of all is that we can't do anything about it.

Noah insists that we journey into the mountains. Something about water on high ground I think, but I don't know; I'm too tired to listen to his smart person babbling. Maybe I'll just let him take over. _Then_ I'll kill him. That should show everybody who's boss.

Suddenly, I hear footsteps further up the path. More tributes coming from another direction. And I know I'm not going crazy because Sparkle hears them too.

"Guys, stop," she whispers. We all do.

"Who do you think it is?" Ariel hisses.

"Who cares? Let's get 'em," I say, yanking the dagger out of my belt.

"Wait," Noah holds out his hand to stop me. "What if it's the person who mutilated Anastasia?"

"And how're we gonna know that unless we straight up ask them?" Jax says, clearly irritated. "Besides, it's more than one person." As I listen closer, I realize that he's right. There's more than one person, but no more than four. And then I hear laughing. We sigh in relief simultaneously.

"It's that idiot party-throwing lot," Sparkle breathes. "We can take them easily."

"Alright. But go slowly. We don't want them to hear us until we're right behind them. We don't have a lot of strength and can't risk a defeat."

"We can't possibly lose to _them,_" I mumble, but nobody hears me. Just as well. Slowly and cautiously we climb up onto the rocks off of the gravel path so we'll be quieter.

At last, the Careers begin stalking their prey.

_Marjorie_

There's going to be a death soon. I just know it. Those goofballs don't stand a chance. Their only advantage? They found water about an hour ago. But no matter. I don't remember their training scores, but judging by their happy-go-lucky attitudes and nonchalant conversations, they don't have any skill or strategy. The Careers can easily beat them to a pulp, and when they're all dead, they'll just take the water, and the problem will be solved.

At least, I hope that's what happens. Of course, it would be interesting to see a Career die by a goofball's hand as well. Actually, now that I think about it, I want that to happen. Little twists are always nice.

"Catch me up." Liam comes in behind me and plops down on the couch, cotton candy colored pastries in hand. He must be back from visiting Dad at the hospital. We have an arrangement: we don't visit at the same time. That way, when one of us comes back, they can fill the other in on the Games.

"Well," I begin. "The guy from Twelve's arm is doing a lot better. They hunted down some healing herbs, which took them forever because of the arena. Jezza is looking for Paisley, but not having much luck. Malia's wound up in this weird gray town structure thing, and has been running around like a maniac, which she is. The little trio found some water and now they're about to be killed by the Careers." I point to the screen, which is still showing the Careers navigating the rocky paths to find Ryan, Tea, and Keldon." I can't believe I have to leave now, right before a death. But Mom was very insistent that I come before noon, and it's eleven forty-five.

"Record it," I order Liam. He obeys, pushing the red button on the universal remote. Without another glance at the screen I race out of the room, determined to get out of the house before anything important happens and I get too interested.

Honestly, all obsession about the Games put aside, I'm worried about my father. He's…really sick. You'd think that the doctors here in the Capitol would be able to fix him up pretty quick, but apparently not. Mom says that this time comes for everyone in their turn, which is code for "Marjorie, your father is going to die." Thanks for that, Mom.

After a quick ride in one of our limos, I'm walking up to the hospital's front doors. The ladies at the front desk know who I am and give me the key to room 2000; Dad's room. He has the whole penthouse floor to himself, one of the many perks to being Panem's most beloved President in history.

The elevator plays Panem's anthem on the way up. It opens with a _ding _to a long hallway, a single door at the end of it. I'll bet it's lined with security cameras, ready to set off an alarm if anyone suspicious dares to come in here. An assassin, Dad's first wife…none of them are allowed in here. Security would have them in jail faster than the Careers could take down a twelve-year-old.

After slipping the key into the door slot and it opens automatically.

"Mom? Dad?" I whisper. I don't hear any voices so I keep my voice down. "Is anybody here?" The large sitting room is empty, the TV screen showing coverage of the Games. I turn away before I can see what's happening, but I'm pretty sure I see blood. _Darn you, Liam. Why couldn't I have gone first?_

"Marjorie? Is that you?" Mom turns enters the room from around a corner. She looks disheveled, which is saying something. Her eyes are red without having had eye surgery; a sure sign that she's been crying. Her hair isn't even in its usual updo.

"Is dad okay?" I ask. She nods slowly.

"He's stable," she says. "The doctors think he'll be okay…" But she doesn't believe it. Honestly, I can't say I do either. I just hope he lasts until the Games are over. It wouldn't do at all to have him die along with the districts' children. He wouldn't want that.

"Can I see him?"

"He's resting. You can see him later," she says.

"Alright. Am I supposed to stay, or….?"

"Yes, don't leave," she says a little too quickly. After quickly regaining her composure, she asks me if I'd like to watch the Games with her for a while. This time it's me who replies too quickly.

I did see blood on the screen. Someone is dying.

**Okay, well I hope you enjoyed it! And yes, we do have a death next chapter, unfortunately. Have to keep it real, folks, these are the Hunger Games after all.**

**Longer chapter next time, I promise!**

**R&R!**

_**~IceTigers**_


	18. Arena: Death and Footsteps

**So I reached the 50,000 word goal on my novel for this month but I'm nowhere near finishing, so I'm still mostly working on that, however, I decided to take a break from it and add on to this, since you've all been so patiently waiting.**

**Nothing much else really to say except that we do have a death this chapter, and we're jumping right in. I feel really bad about killing characters off, but it has to be done, and I apologize to the creator of this character. I hope you'll continue reading :)**

**Also, I think I might catch up with Penny's group a little after Ryan, because we haven't seen them in a while. I'm skipping Ariel; we don't need any more of the Careers right now. **

**Enjoy!**

_Ryan_

It's insane. One minute we're just minding our own business, talking about how Caesar Flickerman got a salad named after him, and the next we're under attack. They didn't make a sound, like a tiger stalking deer. We don't have much in the way of weapons, since we opted for supplies instead, but Keldon and I both have a dagger. And I'm pretty sure we all have feet.

One glance at the giant spear in Ariel's hand and we decide to use our feet.

"Run!" Keldon shouts. He doesn't need to tell me twice. Tea falls in behind us. We run like we've never ran before. We're running for our very lives. While running, I fish a withered shamrock out of my back pocket and crush it in my hand. _Please work, please work, please work. _

For the first time in my life, it doesn't work. Well, not for all of us, anyways. Tea, realizing they're gaining on her, makes a sharp turn and ends up who-knows-where. The Careers, silently deciding that she isn't worth it and they need to stick together, pick up speed, heading straight towards Keldon and me. I shout for Keldon to get out of sight and then hide, but I don't think he hears me. Jax and Ariel have their spears raised and are going to throw them any minute. So what can I do except follow Tea's example? I duck behind a giant rock and scramble back from the way we came, making as little sound as possible and struggling not to be seen. I'm surprised when nobody follows me. The Careers, as deadly as they are, are very much off their game. Maybe they haven't been as lucky as us, with the water and all. But no, that's impossible. If there's one thing they know how to do, it's survive.

Actually, no it's not. They never learned how to survive. They learned how to fight. How to kill.

And if Keldon can't outrun them, he's dead.

My worst fears are nearly confirmed when everything goes quiet. I've hidden in between two rocks, but if they were to come this way, they would find me. A bare, treeless mountain landscape isn't exactly the best place for hiding. I'm not completely out of earshot though, so when the Careers start talking, I know he's dead.

My brain goes into lockdown mode. Tea's gone, Keldon's dead. How? We didn't think any of us were going to win but…somehow they both seemed immortal to me. I only catch bits and pieces of the Careers' conversation.

"Take his pack."

"Is there any…?"

"What about the other…?"

"…rest up. We'll get….later."

"…cannon?"

_Cannon. _

He's not dead. Not yet, anyways. But he's close to it. They obviously don't see the point in taking the time to finish him off. Maybe he can still be saved. If they leave, that is.

"No, we need to scram. Just take the canteen. Chances are those friends of his'll come back to see him off. They seemed pretty sentimental. We'll get 'em then," someone says. I freeze. Should I go back? Probably not. But for some reason I feel like I should. Are they right? Am I sentimental? I allow this idea to dance around in my head for a few moments before deciding that yes, yes I am.

I'm not going to win this thing. I know that. Evangeline can't help me here; I don't even know if the few stars I see at night are real. And while a shamrock is powerful, a wilting one can only get you so far. And if I'm going to die, I might as well die being sentimental. No difference.

When I'm positive the Careers are out of earshot, I scramble back through the rocks to Keldon. Just as expected, he's nearly dead, a puncture wound in his left shoulder, near his heart. If it had pierced his heart he would already be dead, but he's not. Not yet. His eyes are closed and his breathing is labored. I can't imagine how it would feel to have breathing be a chore.

"Keldon? Keldon, buddy?" He opens his eyes a crack.

"Hey, Ryan," he breathes. "Think one of those shamrocks could…help me now?" I shake my head sadly.

"I'm sorry, man?"

"Tea?"

"I don't know where she is. But she's okay, there hasn't been a cannon yet." Of course, there hasn't been a cannon for Keldon either, and he's nearly dead, but it doesn't seem right to bring that up.

"Hey, Ryan?" Keldon whispers, his voice barely audible. I lean closer to hear.

"Yeah, man?"

"You remember that girl I told you about? Mykal?"

"Sure do."

"If you ever make it outta here…if you see her on a Victory Tour or something…t-tell her I love her, okay?" I know she heard it. I know that the world is watching this moment right now, all of them on the edge of their seats. Wherever Mykal is, she knows that Keldon loves her. But that doesn't matter right now.

"Sure, man," I tell him. "I'll do that."

"Thanks," he breathes. Keldon closes his eyes again and exhales deeply, giving up. After a few moments of silence, I know he's dead.

And the boom of the cannon proves it.

"Sorry I couldn't save you, man," I whisper. Feeling like some kind of monster, I stand and slowly back away from his body as the hovercrafts start to descend. Not wanting to risk the Careers finding me, I take off in the direction Tea went, hoping that I can still find her.

I don't have Evangeline, and I don't have Keldon. There is no way I'm facing the rest of the Games without her. There is no way in hell I'm facing them alone.

_Penny_

The water by the waterfall wasn't water, and now everyone thinks I'm some kind of freaky genius. I think that's bad. It makes me a target. But luckily, we found some water just north of the waterfall, coming from some kind of stream up in the mountains. It was real.

Dante's arm isn't looking any better yet, but it's stopped oozing blood, which is good. Thomas is still yellow, though. He hates blood. I told him to make like a vampire and suck it up, because these are the freaking Hunger Games, and the word 'blood' is most definitely in the definition.

I think that overall, we're doing pretty well. We found a nice little cave at the foot of the mountain that's mostly underground, like it belonged to some hibernating bear or something, and it's right near the stream. We're going to have to move on, soon, though. There isn't much water to be had in this arena, not so far, anyways, and it would seem really ironic for us to all get killed because we found it first.

And we just heard a cannon. Someone's dead.

"Who do you think it was?" Tyler asks the question on all of our minds.

"I'd say either Tea, Jezza, or Malia," Thomas offers.

"Not Malia. She's lethal," I chime in.

"How do you figure that, Penny?" Shayna questions.

"I don't know. She just seems…rabid?" I shrug. That's the word that immediately comes to mind when I think about the girl with the angry brown eyes. But of course, no one else gets it.

"Does anyone remember her training score? What was it, five?" Dante points out. I cringe. I had a five.

"I don't remember." Shayna says. "It wasn't too terribly high, though."

"If it was we would've remembered," Thomas agrees. Even I have to consent to that. Everyone remembers the high scores. Everyone remembers the low ones. It's the ones in between that slip your mind.

"So why Tea?" I change the subject.

"Tea just seems like a bit of a damsel in distress if you ask me," Dante jokes, tossing me a small piece of bread.

"How so?"

"Oh, I don't know. That's just the impression I get."

"Oh yeah? Like the impression I get of Malia is dangerous?" I challenge. To my great surprise, everyone laughs.

"Just drop it, Penny," Thomas suggests. "It's not worth it." He's right. It's not. I can't afford to make everyone think I'm a nuisance little girl who's not worth a dime. They'd eliminate me. I can't be eliminated. I just can't.

"Hey, I think we should start moving out," Dante says, grabbing his pack. "We've been here for a while."

"We haven't even been here twenty-four hours," Shayna complains. But she stands too and takes her backpack from Tyler.

Everyone seems to agree that it's time to go, so we do. Dante leads us farther north up the mountain trail. I don't think many people would go this way, so it's probably a good decision. But then again, if that's what everyone else things, that's where everyone else is going, so at the end of the day, I'm not so sure how I feel about it. But I'm not staying alive by arguing with the understood leader. I don't think Dante will be the one to kill me, since I remind him of his sister, but I can't take my chances.

The Games are getting more and more dangerous every day.

Suddenly, I hear footsteps. And the expressions on everyone else's faces tell me that they hear them too. Without speaking, we split, half of us jumping off of the teeny tiny cliff to avoid being seen, and half of us hiding behind the boulders on the right. I don't fancy breaking my foot, so I opt of the boulders.

It's only one person. That means it's not the Careers. I go over the list in my head quickly as the footsteps get closer and closer.

Jezza and Paisley are together. If one of them just died, one of them is alone. Malia is alone. And…that's it, unless one of the alliances split up already. But that's unlikely. This is only the second day.

The footsteps get louder and louder, and my heart beats so fast I'm sure that Dante and Thomas can both hear it on either side of me. _Please don't be Malia, please don't be Malia…_

It's not Malia. It's…Tea?

"So it's Jezza who died," I whisper to Dante. He looks at me in shock, his eyes wide open, and I realize my mistake too late. Tea heard me. She backs up and looks around, her eyes passing right over our hiding place.

"Who is it?" she asks. "I'm not going to kill you, I promise." I smirk to myself. Promises mean nothing in the arena. But Tea's persistent. "No, really," she tries again. "I'm alone, and I don't have any weapons." Despite the fact that we're all in the arena trying to kill each other and lying is painstakingly common, there's a note of truth in Tea's words. I don't think she's out to kill us any more than we're out to kill her. I glance at Dante and immediately see that he heard the note too. I grab Thomas's hand, and we all stand up together.

Tea doesn't believe her eyes for a moment. She looks at us, open-mouthed, stunned that we revealed ourselves.

"How did you know we weren't out to kill you?" I ask her, smirking.

"Well…well I did the math," she stutters. "Ryan and Keldon wouldn't hurt me, I don't think Jezza and Paisley would, but I saw them go in the other direction. The Careers are farther in there," she points to the mountain, "and Malia wouldn't have anyone to whisper to."

"How did you know that _we _wouldn't kill you?" Thomas asks.

"No offense, but you don't really seem like the killing type," Tea answers, smiling kindly. "Especially not this early in the Games."

"Do you know who died?" Dante asks.

"It's Ryan or Keldon, I think," she says sadly. "The Careers were chasing us."

"Are they tracking you?" I ask, hating myself for the panicked sound of my voice.

"I don't know."

"We need to move," Dante decides. "Tyler! Shayna! Stay put, we're coming down!" Just as we're turning to leave, we hear more hurried footsteps behind us. We turn back around sharply, ready to take on the Careers, but it's not the Careers.

"Ryan?" Tea asks, rushing up to hug him. "You're okay!"

"Yeah, that withered shamrock helped a little I guess," Ryan sighs. "But Keldon's gone." Tea bows her head, but doesn't cry. I don't blame her. There's no point in crying when every death propels you one step closer to home.

"I'm going with them, now," Tea says, gesturing to us. "You wanna come?"

"Now, wait just a minute-" Dante begins.

"No, it's okay," I cut him off. "We obviously need to take down the Careers before we do anything else. The more people we can get, the better. After they're gone we can break up the group."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Thomas agrees with me. He looks back at Ryan and Tea. "Temporary truce?" After a quick glance to make sure they're on the same page, they nod.

"Temporary truce."

**So sorry, Keldon! I hope I made it memorable enough :) **

**Anyways, hope you liked it! R&R!**

_**~IceTigers**_


	19. Arena: An Epiphany and a Scream

**Miss me? **

**Alright, so I honestly forgot just about everything that's happened so far, so I just reread the entire arena. Judging by how pathetically long it's been, you might consider doing that as well.**

**I don't have my giant planning notebook with me, so I don't remember what was supposed to happen next, but I do know that we need to figure out what the heck is going on with Jezza and Paisley, right? I DO remember what I was going to do with that. And reading back, Jezza needs some depth in her character, so I'll work on that as well. **

**Let's just see how this goes; bear with me, I'm not really back in the grove yet **

**Enjoy!**

It's already been a day, and I haven't found Paisley. Day two in the arena. Forty-eight hours. However you want to say it. But I've only got forty-eight more hours to save my lifeline.

Seems pretty darn ironic to me.

I just….don't even know where to start. As pathetic as it is, I don't even know how to read a compass; all I know is that they point north. But does that mean I'm supposed to go north? Either way, I've been avoiding looking at that thing. It'll just confuse me.

I spent a good three hours crying after Paisley went missing, and then another few hours circling around in a spiral from our original position in the clearing. Nothing. Then I sat down and ate a tiny bit of dried fruit, but surprisingly I didn't have much of an appetite. I brushed my once beautiful hair with my fingers and re-braided it to give my hands something to do. I'm sure it looks disastrous, but for the first time in my life, I don't care what I look like. Does it matter what you look like when you die? It's not like you're going to be embarrassed when someone finds you dead. And I'm sure the Capitol will pretty me up for my return home.

That journey's coming awfully soon; I can feel it. Without Paisley, I'm just a lost sheep, and if there's one thing I know about sheep, it's that they need something to follow.

The glowing orange sun is beginning to set. Paisley's been missing all day, and I'm no closer to finding her than I was when I discovered that she was gone.

"It's okay, Jezza," I tell myself. "You've got two whole days left. Just wait, you're going to have a major epiphany pretty soon and then you'll return home without a coffin and you'll be hailed as the most smartest girl ever. Full of smarticle particles. And then you'll take a nice warm bath and your hair will be gorgeous again. All you have to do is find stupid Paisley."

But Paisley wasn't the stupid one. If I had gone missing, she would have found me already. Paisley was smart. She was fast. She was everything I've ever wanted to be. How can the Gamemakers force me to become her? That's what they're trying to do, I realize that now. They're trying to make me into Paisley. And because it'll be impossible for me, it'll be downright hysterical to them. That's what I am, isn't it? A joke. Something to laugh at. Not a real person. Not a contender to win. Not like Paisley was.

Should I even try to find her? I could just let her die. Then I'd be closer to winning. She would've killed me eventually anyway, right? Right? Or would we just have split up? My mind tells me to let her die. Let another cannon sound in two days' time. And that very well may happen. But, I realize, I would never be able to live with myself if I didn't at least try. My path is clear.

Oooooh it makes me so angry. I have to prove them wrong. I just HAVE to. I'll prove them all wrong or I'll die trying. My heart knows that I only really have one option, and that's the dying part, but if it'll be a memorable death, I'll make sure of that. I won't let them forget about me.

Suddenly full of adrenaline now that I have an objective, I take the little blue compass out of my jacket and look at the spinning silver arrow for the first time.

It…..it doesn't point north.

IT DOESN'T POINT NORTH!

So that means that it points the direction I'm supposed to go, right? RIGHT?

I jump up from my little spot under a tree, staring at the arrow. It's pointing to my left, in the general direction from where I heard Paisley's screams. Thank God it makes sense.

By now it's almost completely dark, and I'm torn. Should I rest just for tonight and then go find Paisley? Whatever took her shouldn't come and get me; they kinda implied that they wouldn't. But how binding is implication?

On the other hand, I have no idea where anyone else is. In the dark, someone could easily sneak up on me. And I can't even see the compass in the dark. But I've just wasted so much time doing nothing…obviously three days was meant to be a challenging deadline, and if the compass points in the direction I'm supposed to go, then there are bound to be some obstacles.

I have to leave now.

I start to head off when I hear the Capitol Anthem ringing through the trees. Oh, right. There was a cannon today. I rush out into the middle of the clearing so I can see the sky, just in time to see the boy from Seven's face among the stars. For some reason, I feel sad. I guess it's only natural to be sad at death, but shouldn't I be at least a little bit happy?

Maybe it's just because seeing his face in the sky, so isolated and alone, and knowing that he's dead and that his family will never hear his voice again…maybe it just makes me feel that much more alone.

_Marjorie_

Jezza's so stupid it's laughable. Poor thing; she's terrified. She is never going to find Paisley. And then she'll become one of those hysterical crazy people who ends up throwing themselves into a river because they can't tolerate the pain. Aw, well. She had a good run.

I'm still at the hospital penthouse with Mom watching the Games. She's crying. She's been crying forever, ever since that Keldon dude died and confessed his love to the world. So sweet. But I think Mom's crying for Dad, not Keldon and his tragic unrequited love story. Nothing's happened to him yet. I haven't been in to see him. I don't want to; the idea of seeing him so sick and helpless scares me. But he's old. He was old at the last Quell. He doesn't have much longer to live.

The screen switches quickly from a spazztastic Jezza to the ever-insane and ever-entertaining Malia. Oooh, goody. She hasn't figured out yet that she should stop going towards the menacing town in the distance. The whispers have stopped, but I'm sure they're going to come back at some point. And even though the 'ghosts' are formed by technological magic, it's fun to imagine that they're real.

Malia's walking like a zombie, with her hands stretched out in front of her and her dull brown eyes even more dead looking than usual. Her frizzy hair has become a matted mess on top of her head. It almost looks like she tried to pull it out. And to think that it was so pretty and shiny when the Games began hardly two days ago.

There's not a sound on the television except Malia's pounding footsteps, but wherever she is, she senses a shift in the air. I scoot to the edge of my seat. Are the whispers back? The vaporized hands?

No, I don't think so. But Malia raises an axe high above her head, and swings downward fast, slicing through the empty air.

As she walks forward, continuing to swing her axe, houses emerge from the fog. Little tiny gray houses with black tin roofs. The wood that makes up the walls is rotted, and the houses look like they're seconds away from caving in. There's a chronic creaking sound that comes from nowhere.

Malia, however, is determined to find the origin. She swings her axe mindlessly, taking giant, slow, jerking footsteps forward. She approaches one of the houses and promptly makes a blow on the left wall, sending the house toppling over like a stack of cards. Dust rises up from the debris like a cumulonimbus cloud. Pleased with this result, Malia proceeds to chop down several more of the houses, releasing the anger she's bottled up inside.

After several minutes of nothing but chopping, suddenly she stops. She drops her axe to the ground with a thud and stares at one of the houses. It's a tad bigger than the rest, but only just. And then I hear a single whispered word:

"_Now."_

Malia interprets that to mean that now is the time to enter the house. I interpret it to mean that her death is near, but alas, we do not share a mind, and I'm thanking my lucky stars for that. Ever so slowly, Malia approaches the house. My heart jumps to my throat as I imagine what could be inside. It could be anything. Whose voice was it that said that one word? The possibilities are endless.

The camera follows Malia to the door. She cracks it open and slips inside, closing it behind her. Her weapons are in a pile several yards away where she dropped them. The camera doesn't follow her inside; instead it simply stays focused on the door.

We don't see what happens inside the house. All we get is a scream.

**Alright, well, I hope you liked it! I apologize; it wasn't very eventful. Neither Malia nor Jezza really have anyone to talk to, so….**

**Please tell me what you thought, AKA R&R!**

_**~IceTigers**_


	20. Arena: Water and Fire

**Hello again! Still working out exactly what's going on with everyone. I know exactly what's happening with Malia and Jezza, but I'm a little stuck on the Careers and the big Penny/Dante/Tyler/Thomas/Shayna/Tea/Ryan/I think that's all of them group. So we'll see where this goes.**

**Keep in mind that the events in this chapter happen after Keldon's death, but before Jezza leaves to go find Paisley in the middle of the night, so it's a little bit of a flashback here. **

**Hope you like!**

_Jax_

After we kill Keldon, we take all of his supplies, including a half-full canteen of water. Then we take off. When we leave Keldon, he's still barely clinging to life, and we hope that the other two will come back to see him off. When they do, we'll be ready for them.

We go out of earshot to analyze the supplies we had won, finding a little bit of food, and of course, that beautiful canteen. The only problem is that there's five of us and only about two cups of water.

"Okay, me first!" Sasha announces, a childish tinge to his voice. He grabs the canteen from Noah and takes a big swig. "Ahh," he sighs, "delicious."

"Give me that you moron!" Sparkle snaps, yanking the canteen from Sasha's hands.

"I don't think so!" Ariel protests, reaching for the canteen. Sparkle holds it up high, just out of Ariel's reach. "You give me that right now or I'll kill you!" Ariel threatens. Sparkle's eyes open wide, burning with fury. Sparkle raises her free hand and brings it down hard across Ariel's face. Ariel shrieks and covers her cheek with her hand. I almost think I hear Keldon's cannon, but I'm not thinking about that right now.

"Hey, watch it!" I yell, keeping up the act for Ariel. I grab Sparkle's wrist and twist her arm behind her back in a painful looking angle. She screams and drops the water. I scoop it up quickly and hold it up high. "Okay. Can we just figure this out, please?"

"No, thanks." Noah finally decides to move from his quiet, observant position. Being the giant he is, he easily plucks the canteen from my hand. We all watch in shock as he chugs it down his throat. "You're right for once, Sasha. That is good. So…_refreshing."_ Without another word, he tosses the dry canteen on the ground. "Now, if you don't mind, I think we should go hunting for those other two happy-go-lucky idiots."

"We need _water, _Noah," Sparkle whines, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm not doing any more hunting until we get some."

"Well, if you guys hadn't been so immature, we all could've had some," Noah retorts, narrowing his eyes intensely. "I, for one, need more. I'm sure Sasha does too. But if those other two are as sentimental as they seem, then they're both there by that boy's body and we've got a golden opportunity here! The cannon's already gone off, and we've only got a few minutes until the hovercrafts get-"

Too late. The telltale roar of the hovercraft drowns out the rest of Noah's sentence.

"Ugh! Come on!" Sasha yells, stomping his foot on the ground. "I wanted to pound them!"

"Sasha, you got Keldon already. Isn't that enough blood for one day?" Ariel sighs, exasperated. She plops down on the ground and rests her red cheek against the cold rock. "Gosh, Sparkle, this thing hurts!"

"Sorry," Sparkle says in a mocking voice. "Never meant to hurt you."

"This isn't working," Noah says finally. "We need to break up."

"What? Already?" I ask, shocked. "Where'd that come from?"

"I cannot deal with this," he hisses, pointing at Sasha and Sparkle. "And frankly, I don't like either of you either."

"Oh, yeah? You want us to just kill you now, big guy?" Sasha threatens, sizing Noah up and brandishing his sword. It's still stained with Keldon's blood.

"No. I just want us to split up."

"Noah, I don't think that's gonna work for everyone," Ariel says warily, sitting up and bracing herself for a fight.

"So what do you suggest, darling?" Noah says tensely, his eyes never leaving Sasha's face.

"Oh, um, I was thinking we could just, uh, drop the subject?" she says weakly. I offer her my hand and she takes it, standing up all the way. "Noah, think about it," she begs. "The Careers are supposed to stick together until the very end. We need everyone to bring everyone else down. There's strength in numbers."

"Yeah, c'mon Noah," I chime in. "We'll turn on each other soon enough. Just deal with Sasha for a little while longer, 'kay?"

"Fine," Noah grumbles. He turns to Sasha. "But if you pull one more little trick of yours," he warns, "I'll destroy you."

"Promise?" Sasha asks, an evil grin on his face.

"Promise."

"Great. Now that this little ego-battle's over _I am thirsty_," Sparkle complains.

"Me too," Ariel sighs. I can tell she's exhausted. She's hardly snapped at anyone today. She leans her head against my shoulder and I make a point of wrapping my arm around her and kissing her forehead gently.

"Whaddya say we just keep on going up? That group was coming down and they found water. If we retrace their steps we should be able to find them."

"That's a great idea, actually," Noah agrees. "We'll just keep going then?"

"Less talking, more walking," Sparkle grumbles. She picks up her pack from the ground and starts heading up. Everyone's too tired to contest her temporary position as leader, even Sasha. And that's saying something.

We walk on for about an hour before we finally start seeing signs. A little patch of wet rock here and there, or a tiny puddle, maybe from rain. We know enough not to drink from the puddles, but hope starts welling up in my chest. My mouth is as dry as a desert. Even Noah and Sasha's quick drinks don't exempt them; you need more than a few sips every two days to survive.

Finally, Sparkle shouts the words we've all been waiting so desperately to hear.

"Guys! I found it!" Suddenly, my sense of exhaustion melts away and I run up to where Sparkle is. Sure enough, there's a little tiny creek between two crevices of rock. I don't know if natural creeks can run up in barren, gray mountains, but this water looks real. Thank God, thank God. Thank everything good in this world. I have half a mind to even thank the Gamemakers for making sure there's actually water. We all slide to a stop along the edge of the creek and stare at it.

"We should probably purify the water first," Ariel suggest, running a hand through her red hair.

"Okay, well let's not waste any time then," I say hurriedly. I unzip Ariel's backpack and hand her a canteen and then get mine out of my own backpack. By the time I actually get it out, Sasha and Noah already have their canteens full and are counting out the right number of drops of purifier. Sparkle can't seem to find her canteen in her pack. Somehow, the red mark still on Ariel's cheek inspires me not to help her.

Without wasting another second, I bend down and let the fresh water flow into the canteen. A few wet droplets splash onto my fingertips and it's everything I can do to not lick my fingers. But this arena is a deathtrap; anything good can immediately turn against you. So I'm not even going to indulge myself in a tiny lick.

Sparkle does, however. She's found her canteen, filled it up, and put in a few drops of purifier, but she seems to think better of waiting a half an hour to drink. None of us try and stop her as she cups her hands and drinks from the little creek. Any illness she gets is her problem, and we won't miss her. None of us even issue a warning.

When she's temporarily satisfied, she takes her canteen and tucks it under her arm, leaning back against one of the stone walls. Sasha and Noah are as far away from each other as possible, staring each other down. A silent challenge to do something. I scoot up against the wall opposite Sparkle next to Ariel.

"How do we know when time's up?" she asks.

"I don't know," I admit. "I guess we just wait for what seems like forever. Time always goes by really be slowly when you're not doing anything."

"Ugh," Ariel sighs. "I just can't believe this. Nothing is going right. The Careers are a pathetic mess. And even if I was going to make it back, my brother would just make fun of my stupid allies and Zane will find some way to make me miserable."

"Zane?"

"Yes! My dumb boyfriend, remember?"

"Right. And you care about what he thinks….why?"

"Oh, I don't know, just shut up," she moans. Ariel slumps against the wall and sighs again. "I'm just so tired. I'm so thirsty. And we have to wait a millennium for these things to be safe and it just makes me so…angry!" she decides, raising her voice. Sparkle looks up at us for a second, but quickly loses interest and returns to sharpening her knives. Sasha and Noah either don't care about our conversation, or they haven't noticed.

"Well, at least you've got wonderful me to keep you company," I say, smirking. She narrows her eyes and scowls.

"Keep dreaming. You're an idiot, just like everyone else in this blasted arena."

"As true as that may be, at least I'm an idiot with excellent taste," I tease, wrapping my arm around her and pecking her on the cheek. Almost reflexively, she stands up and moves away.

"Stop touching me!" she yells. "I don't like you!" Hmm….almost seems like a challenge. Well, I've never been one to shy away from a challenge. She wants a fight before we…kiss and make up. Let's show those Capitol girls what Jax Lucas is made of, shall we?

Ariel's back is turned to me now; it's the perfect opportunity to sneak up on her. I stand up quietly and tiptoe towards her, not making a sound. Then suddenly, when I'm close enough, I grab her shoulders and spin her around, pinning her against the wall. Her dark blue eyes are wide with shock and anger, but I take no notice. She challenged me. She asked for it. Before she can tell me to buzz off, I mash my mouth against hers, hard. Her breath hitches and she tries to push me away, but I've got her trapped, sandwiched between the wall and my body. I kiss her passionately, ignoring the fact that she's completely unresponsive. But eventually, once she's gotten over her shock, she starts kissing me back. I bring her hands up to my face and tangle my hands in her already tangled hair.

I have no idea how long I stand there kissing her. Eventually, our fellow Careers intervene. Sparkle, to be exact.

"Alright guys, cut it out." She manages to catch me off guard and pull me away from Ariel, who, when she opens her eyes, promptly punches me.

"Hey! What was that for?" I gasp, clamping my hand over my right eye.

"I could ask the same to you!" she manages, also short of breath. "What part of 'I don't like you' do you not understand!?"

"You kissed me back! Besides, I'm irresistible," I say honestly, still rubbing my eye.

"Yeah? Let's see how resistible you are with a black eye then, _pretty boy," _she spits. "Noah, how much longer do you think?"

"I'm only waiting a few more minutes."

"Good." Ariel punches my shoulder hard for good measure and saunters over to sit with Sparkle, who's having a rather hard time keeping from cracking up. I roll my shoulder, realizing that I'm pretty lucky she didn't completely dislocate it.

I just don't get it. I thought she was starting to like me. _She kissed me back, _for Pete's sake. All egotistical things aside, I was beginning to like her a little. Not much, but a little. And besides, the kiss of Jax Lucas is something that just about any girl would kill for.

No pun intended.

We start this cycle where we fill out canteens, wait the thirty minutes, drink until they're bone dry, and then fill them up again. I do it at least five times, but I don't really keep track of everyone else. I don't look at Ariel at all, although there are several times when I can feel her eyes on me.

Finally, when everyone is well rested and fully hydrated, we fill up every single one of our canteens and keep on going up the mountain. If we're lucky, there's some kind of cave up there where we can rest again like we did last night. Only this time, I don't think Ariel will be sleeping on my arm.

And what do you know? By nightfall, we have stumbled upon a cave. How convenient. We enter in unspoken agreement and immediately collapse. We're used to hard work, for the most part, but we're still exhausted from the past few days, and climbing up mountain terrain is rough, to say the least.

Ariel and Sparkle claim the back, while us guys are pushed up to the mouth of the cave. That way, if we're attacked, the surplus of men on this earth might be reduced. Or, that's what Ariel thinks, at least. Noah just rolls his eyes, Sasha growls, and I say nothing. I don't know what Miss Mermaid's problem is, but I have no intention of dealing with it. If she wants to drop the act, then fine. If she's having emotional conflictions about my awesomeness, I'm leaving it to her to figure out. You can't get too attached to people once you're in the arena.

The anthem of Panem resounds above us and Keldon's face appears in the sky. Sasha chuckles briefly before lying down to get to sleep. The rest of us follow suit. I don't know about everyone else, but sleep comes to me easily.

"JAX!" I hear Ariel's voice in my dreams.

"Huh?"

"Jax, wake up! Sparkle, wake up those two nitwits! Jax! JAX!" I jerk awake, realizing it wasn't a dream. Ariel's standing above me, her hair a frizzy mess and her eyes wide with fear. Once she sees I'm awake she turns back to Sparkle, who's running around like a maniac, stuffing supplies in backpacks. Noah and Sasha are slowly coming to, and we exchange looks of confusion.

"What's going on?" Noah asks finally. Sparkle stops in her tracks and looks at us incredulously.

"Will you just look at the back of the cave?" she asks. Without saying anything else, she continues packing.

I obey Sparkle's orders and turn around. What I see almost makes me jump out of my skin. Fire. Fire coming from the back of the cave. We were all so tired last night; we must have forgotten to survey the area. But sure enough, streams of fire are coming from and unseen hole in the back of the cave. And they're gradually getting closer.

"Sparkle, you airhead, we don't have time to pack!" Noah shouts, having seen the fire as well. Sparkle and Ariel gather up what they already have while Sasha counts his weapons.

"Oh. My. Gosh. GO!" I scream at him. He looks up at me in surprise, and then back at the flaming jets. They're getting closer. And there's something else….a deep, rumbling roar…._it's alive. _Whatever it is, it's alive.

Dawn has barely begun to break on the third day in the arena, and the Careers are running for their lives for the zillionth time.

**Remember in the introduction chapter (very, very first one) when I promised you guys a dragon? I have kept my word. **

**Hope you enjoyed that! Next chapter will mainly focus on the big alliance; I remember what I was going to do with them now :) **

**Please, please, please review and tell me what you thought! I really enjoy reading your analysis (how do you make that plural?) of the characters' relationships and predictions about what's going to happen. **

_**~IceTigers**_


	21. Arena: Promises and Tears

**Hiya!**

**So I think I'm due to write Ryan, but I really feel like writing Penny if that's alright with you guys. She's my favorite 3 One of these days I'm gonna like, make her into a character in one of my original stories. **

**Anyways, so, Penny. I don't think a whole lot of action's gonna happen in this chapter, and it probably won't be very long…just a lot of talking. But who knows, maybe I'll get some sudden burst of inspiration halfway through. **

**This takes place the evening after Keldon's death and on to the next day; day 3 in the arena. I'm sorry for all the confusion with the timeline; there's just a lot going on at once! It'll get better, I promise.**

**Hope you like!**

_Penny_

As night starts to fall, we settle down at the base of the mountain. We spent the rest of the day climbing down. It was a slow process because there's a lot of us now. Dante, Thomas, Shayna, Tyler, and our newest additions, Tea and Ryan. Neither of them spoke much all day; I think they're a little shaken up over Keldon's death. It's finally hit them that real people die in the arena, not robots. Well, maybe if they'd spent more time preparing themselves for the terrors they were going to face when we were in training instead of throwing parties, they'd be a little more in control of their emotions right now. I have no sympathy for them.

Dante's arm is really starting to look better. You can tell it's still sore because he's hesitant to move it, but I guess that's to be expected. I bet the Gamemakers put that plant in our path the second he got hurt; a Career vs. Dante showdown at the end of the day could be pretty interesting. They're probably holding out for that.

Shayna and Tyler settle against a big tree and lean their heads close together, whispering softly. I see Shayna blush and giggle, and Tyler grins. I huddle in a corner by myself and smile sadly. Everyone here has a friend. A good friend. Someone they trust. Ryan and Tea are sitting with each other talking softly, and it seems as if each is trying to keep the other's hopes up. Dante's messing with Thomas, rolling up his sleeve and examining his wound, describing what it looks like in great detail because Thomas refuses to look. And as for Tyler and Shayna…let's just say I'm surprised nobody's uttered a vow of everlasting love like in Swan Lake. And here I am, again, just the poor little girl, all alone, waiting to die.

Most people would call Dante my friend. And I love Dante like a brother, I really do. But he doesn't trust me. And I won't trust anyone unless they trust me first; that's been my philosophy for as long as I can remember.

Besides, Dante needs to die. And he needs to die soon, before he's the only thing standing in the way of me and my way home.

After a while, Thomas announces that he's hungry, so we all gather up in a circle and examine our supplies. We've got some water, but not a whole lot, so we'll have to go back to one of our sources. And we've got a fair amount of dehydrated food, but with so many of us, it's not going to last. We agree that the smartest plan is to divvy everything we have up equally and have each person carry their own share. Everyone eats their own, and nothing but their own. Everyone is responsible for their own well-being.

I nibble on a crust of stale bread and listen to my competition talk, hoping to pick up their individual strategies. I don't know where anyone stands as far as when our little group is going to break up.

Luckily for me, everyone's exhausted and especially sentimental tonight.

"So what do we do now?" Tyler asks, rubbing his forehead. Shayna sighs and snuggles up against him.

"Do we need to keep moving?" Thomas asks. Frankly, I've been wondering that myself. We're as safe right now as we can be in the arena. There's some water not too terribly far from here, and I think I remember the way. The Careers probably aren't too far from here, but there's no real way to tell. If we keep moving, we're just as likely to run into them as we are just staying here.

"I don't really want to move," Shayna sighs. "This whole thing is just so exhausting. And nobody's died yet." Ryan and Tea, who have remained silent, tense noticeably. "Oh, oh, sorry you guys," Shayna apologizes quickly. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry, that was insensitive."

"Yeah. Yeah it was," Ryan says simply. I'm not sure what I think of him. I don't want to be around when something completely destroys his chronic happiness; there may be a monster underneath his freckles.

"It's okay, Shayna," Tea says, smiling sadly. "I know what you mean. Usually more people have died by the third day. At this rate, we'll be in here forever."

"I just wish there was a way we could get home without having to kill each other," Dante says, opening up completely. "I want to get back to my family as much as the next guy, but if that's going to happen for me, each and every one of you guys is going to have to die." He looks at each of us in turn, his eyes lingering on me a little longer. "I don't want to be responsible for your deaths," he says sadly, "but the odds aren't in anyone's favor anymore. I'm scared to think of what I might do if it was just me and someone else."

"It's not like we can just make a truce, either," Thomas adds. Wait. A truce. That's perfect. A sure-fire way to make sure none of these people kill me in my sleep.

"Maybe we can," I say, my voice small. "What if we all swore not to kill each other?"

"We can't do that, Penn," Dante murmurs. "We just can't."

"But what if we could?" I protest, getting excited. "We won't kill each other. Just us," I say, gesturing to our little circle. "That doesn't mean we have to save anyone or that we can't kill the Careers or the Careers can't kill us, but _we _will not kill anyone who's sitting here right now."

"Well, what happens if it's just two of us left in the end?" Tyler questions.

"We could pull a 74," Shayna suggests, obviously referring to the dual suicide Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark did in the 74th Games.

"No," Dante disagrees, shaking his head. "We all know what happened to them."

"What if we just let the Gamemakers take care of it?" I ask. "We'll let them decide. They can send one of their mutts to kill the last person."

"Then we won't lose ourselves," Ryan says softly, crushing the remains of a wilting shamrock.

"I just don't know if it'd work," Dante says. "I mean, would any of us be able to be one of the last two standing and leave our fate to chance? Isn't it human instinct to fight to survive?"

"I'm not saying it'll work up til' the end," I say softly, "but it's something to hold on to." We sit in silence for several moments.

"I like it," Thomas says finally. "I think we should do it."

"You do realize that everyone in the world knows our plan, right?" Tea giggles, scanning our surroundings for any signs of hidden cameras.

"Eh, who cares?" Tyler shrugs. "It's not like they're gonna kill us all at once."

"Everyone needs to promise," Ryan says, letting the last of his shamrock fall to the ground. "Everyone has to promise to hold to the agreement. At least until they feel they have no choice."

"You go first, then," Shayna challenges, looking over at Ryan. She holds his gaze for a few moments before grabbing Tyler's hand and squeezing it in her own.

"Alright," Ryan sighs. He lifts his head and looks at each of us. "I promise that I won't be the one to kill any of you. I swear it." He looks up to the sky. "I swear by Evangeline."

"I swear, too," Tea says softly. "And who knows? Maybe somehow we'll all live!" Everyone grins at her optimism, mostly humoring her. But although I can't speak for anyone else, I'm clinging to a little bit of hope that somehow that'll happen.

"I promise," Tyler says. "I promise I won't kill you guys."

"I promise too," Shayna whispers. She looks up at Tyler and kisses him lightly on the lips. Her eyes sparkle in the moonlight, and Tyler grants her a small smile.

"I swear," Thomas says, adding his promise to the pile. "I swear on cake and everything good." My eyes linger on Thomas for a few moments, thinking about how brave of him it is to agree to this. He's not especially gifted or strong; he's a worm of a kid, actually, and yet, he's willing to set himself equal with everyone here and say that he won't kill to save his own life. I never noticed, but maybe we aren't so different. Maybe Thomas and I share the same mindset, maybe we're in the same situation. That thought in mind, I take the next step.

"I swear it," I tell them, my voice as strong and brave as I can make it. "Your blood won't be on my hands. Ever." I look around at everyone, tears forming in my eyes as I realize what I'm promising.

"Dante?" Shayna asks, glancing over at the one member of our group who hasn't promised. He looks down, hesitating. I hold my breath, wondering if he'll risk it, if he's willing to make the commitment.

He looks directly at me when he says, "I swear."

The first tear falls.

_Marjorie_

Aww, well isn't that just the sweetest thing?

Rhetorical question. It's not.

Why on earth would they do that? Now deaths are going to be even fewer and far between. And someone else needs to hurry up and die.

The cameras are going crazy, between Malia's screaming at the door of the rotting house, to Jezza's frantic searching, to the Careers snuggling up in a menacing cave. What will tomorrow bring?

No one knows.

Later on, I go home to Liam without really talking to my dad or saying goodbye to Mom. He's watching the Games still. He doesn't bother to tell me what's been happening; he knows that I wouldn't have stayed away for so long without knowing what was going on in the arena. He does, however, tell me what's on his mind.

"Someone's going to die tomorrow," he says. "Things are too calm. They've gotta mix it up."

"Isn't having Five stuck in a ghost house enough?" I laugh. Liam shakes his head simply.

"Nope."

**Well, there you have it! What do you guys think, is Liam right? And the seeds of rebellion have officially been planted! I'm excited, yay! **

**So I hope you guys liked it, and R&R as always :)**

_**~IceTigers**_


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